BENEATH THE SURFACE
n. Thiswasvitaltoestablishing
accuratenavigationalpositionsforshipsat sea,
anissueof greatimportancetotheseafaring
nation of Great Britain.
CAPTAIN COOK AT THE CAPE
Cook was also given secret instructions to search
for the often speculated “Great South Land”
after completing the necessary astronomical
observations. In doing this he first fully mapped
both the North and South Islands of New
Zealand before then meeting with the east coast
of Australia. This he mapped with a degree of
accuracy which still astonishes seafarers today.
However he almost paid the price of his life
and that of all his ship’s company – on a handful
of occasions. First, when running aground on
the Endeavour Reef, north of modern day Cairns.
Second, when coming within metres of being
washed onto the outer edge of the Great Barrier
Reef.
The former incident could have resulted in
the loss of all hands, if not by drowning then by
starvation on the dry and inhospitable coast. The
latter incident was much more dangerous, as it
would have resulted in the total destruction of
the ship and all its crew many miles from land. In
the end it was only Cook’s seamanship and the
calm efficiency of his crew that saved them on
both occasions.
Cook went on to round the tip of the Cape and
landed on Possession Island. Having climbed a
hill on the island, Cook signalled that he could
see a clear passage through the Strait, but when
later, in Batavia, he heard that the French had
already completed a trans-Pacific crossing, he
changed his journal entry to imply that he had
conducted a ceremony to claim possession of
the east coast for Britain.
Cook named the promontory Cape York,
after Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, a
brother of King George III, who had died three
years earlier.
Shortly after the establishment of the First
Fleet settlement in Sydney, navigator Matthew
Flinders took his leaky ship, Investigator, around
the full circumference of the continent in 1802-
03, creating detailed maps of the coastline, and
noting the extensive laterite deposits around the
area known today as Weipa, that would one day
be developed as the huge bauxite deposits for
which the town is known.CAPE YORK BY LAND
Edmund Kennedy was the first to lead an
expedition to try to navigate to the tip of the
Cape over land in 1848, but of the 13 members
of his party, 10 perished from disease, starvation
or during hostile encounters with indigenous
tribes – including Kennedy himself, who died
from a spear wound when within sight of their
destination.
Only the aboriginal guide Jacky Jacky actually
succeeded in making the journey, and he ledrescuers back to the other two survivors.
It was Francis Lascelles and William Jardine
who made the first truly successful trip in 1865,
driving a mob of cattle from Rockhampton to the
new settlement of Somerset, losing most of their
horses and stores along the way.
Nowadays, Cape York – despitetheasphalt
roads and crowded camp sites insomeareas – is
still a place of immense adventure.CTAtoTahititoobservethetransitof Venusacross
the face of the Sun. This was vital to
A specious depiction of indigenous Australians
opposing Captain Cook’s landingThe “Duyfhen” in the Gulf of Carpentaria The dashing mug of Captain Cook