WITH CAPTAIN COOK

Hokitika Guardian, 26 February 1927, Page 4

WITH CAPTAIN COOK

(Sydney Paper). The Alexander Turnbull Library. Wellington, lias published M translation, by Miss U. Tewsiev, oi an extremely rare book, namely, the .lonriliil of one Heinrich Zimmernmnli, a German who sailed beioro the mast on the Discovery oil Captain Took s third and last voyage to the Pacific. This was printed in Mannheim in 17SJ. and only few copies, as far as is known, are in existence. One is ill the possession ol the Turnbull Library; another was found in Switzerland not Jong ago by a Canadian citizen, who presented it. to the Provincial Museum in Victoria, BA. That is the only recorded instance ol a transaetion in the book since 188/ ■ Vet ii is odd that the journal should have escaped the notice ol historians, for not only has it a considerable intrinsic interest, hut it throws a

liable light upon the character ol Cook. It was a queer chance that brought tiiis humble belt-maker ol the Palatinate to lhe South Seas. His compatriots are stay-at-home lollc. Generation after generation lives and dies under the same roof. But trade wits bad. Zimniermiuin tried his luck in Geneva. Lyons, and Paris. and eventually drifted to London, where he was employed in a sugar refinery. Hearing that an exploring expedition was being fitted out, he signed on. in 177(i. as an able sc/nnan on the Discover;.'. Later, when committing his journal to the Press. Zimmormaiin experienced some sea rollings oi heait. Ought, he not. lie a.sltj. .have given up his papers at the end ol the cruise. - ’ lie consoles himself with I lie rellecHon that the plain unvarnished chronicle iif a simple .sailor does not pretend to be authoritative, and that if cannot possibly prejudice properly the accredited accounts ol the voyage. In this he is correct. llis story contains many lacunae, and in points ot detail not infrequently cmilliets with lhe official narrative. But its importance is that it allows us lo see Cook through the eyes ol the forecastle. Bv the unconscious testimony o, these pages Conk .stands revealed as a horn leader of men. His ascendancy over his (ommainl was complete. Cook Hi is on the Resolution, Ziinmerlnanii on the Discovery; Look was the commodore oi the expedition, a remote Olympian figure. Zimiiieriiiaiin a common sailor. There ran have been little or no direct contact between the two. Vet Cook impressed his personality noon all and sundry. To Zimmeiniann he is an object almost, of hero-worship. We have a picture of a hard and reserved but jus! mail; one wlio is superior to all weaknesses of the l!osh. a martinet, who is nevertheless devoted to the well are ol his crew. Only once does Ziinineriuaiiii criticise his i aimiaiitfi r. In the Behring Stiiiits. oil' the coast ot Asia, two natives (nine aboard with a box, in which was a papev written in an unintelligible language, presumably Russian. Two dates, however, could he made out, 1770 ''and LiS. lhe crew jumped to the conclusion that it was a, message trom castaways, and wit ■ “very displeased'’ whom Cook look no steps to investigate the matter, t ook himself lias explained his reasons for not, slopping, and they are entirely adequate. There was nothing what- ■ ever to suggest that the document, referred lo any shipwreck. Explorers were in the habit of leaving records in boxes or bottles, ol their visits Lo new territory, and the dales probably j indicator! no more chan that Cook had i been -intieipaled. Clonk, moreover, j was on a special mission—to endeavour to find the North-west Passage. Time was the i sseuee of the contract, and, vj.hile he could turn aside to save life, he could not go hunting for i purely conjectural castaways. In the ■state of the season and weather ii , would have been dangerous to linger j in those treacherous waters. Again i and lignin in his journal Xinimermann alludes to Cooks humanity; he liiigh , have guessed that Cook had goon | grounds for his action on this occasion, j Tins humanity was strikingly cx- ' hihited in Cook’s relations with the natives. “He had.’’ says Zimmei'manii, “an instinctive knowledge oi how to deal with native people, and his pleasure in intercourse with them j was self-evident. He loved the natives, understood the language of many of them, synd had the art of pleasing and elvariiiing them.'’ Zimmermunn mentions many incidents which by themselves would he quite sufficient, even in tilie absence of positive proof to the contrary, to dispose of the legend that his death was due to his treatment of the people of “0-waihi,” as Ziinmerma.ini calls it. It was his practice on reaching strange islands to go ashore alone and unarmed in order to make friendly lvertures. On returning to islands •vhich lie find visited on previous vovige.s lie was welcomed and feted, iiiy members of The crow who illlscd the natives were severely punish'd. Cook himself, with a morality 'are ill his day, would have nothing o do with the easy-going native ! roinen, and did his utmost to impose 1 estrnint upon his men. The journal ] bounds in instances of his solicitude j or the natives. His death was cans- |

ed by sheer misadventure and the in- j calculable tfaprice of the untutored .savage. At O-waihi a boat belonging j to the Discovery was stolen. Cook. | intended to follow a plan which had j always worked successfully. In previous eases of theft he had taken mom- ! S hers of the local royal family as hos- I tages. The missing property had been 1 at once returned, the hostages, lib- l erally compensated, had gone home I delighted, and no angry feeling Did ! remained on either side. But at O-waihi, as Cook was walking arm-in-arm with the king to the beach. aj ' c crowd collected and an old woman I u intervened. L’oolc tried to di<ig the { king with lijiu ; the natives began to , J pelt him with stones. Cook, losing I his temper, discharged his shot gun. < e ; He was immediately stabbed from j ]< x-hind with ail iron dagger which hi? j slayer had received as a gift from j (J dook. Zimmermann and the rest of | H he company ore very indigumt with I laptain Gierke, the second in com- j natid, because he would not avenge j flis leader by opening fire on the vil- i age. They attributed his refusal to ! reakne.ss; a more likely explanation j s that Cook had inculcated him with : is humanitarian principles. But the !yj ntoward event cast a, blight over the j xpedition. Let. the plain sailor from i or lie Palatinate contribute Cook’s epi- ; ' iph: “The universal consternation j m.sed by the death of our commodore ! the Highest praise that could pas- | j hlv be, given him. Everyone on the | j tips was silent and depressed : we all I : It that we had lost a father, and. . . I t fter Cook’s death the spirit- of dis- j : tvery. the decision and the undomi- j jj ble courage, were gone.” | S