tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1576793257211626923.post626727333461736268..comments2023-11-05T07:41:40.943+00:00Comments on Reflections on A Journey to St Helena: The Masons of St Helena: The Visit of Captain CookJohn Tyrrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14840928923304125310noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1576793257211626923.post-49906791962731371232014-01-10T10:51:58.972+00:002014-01-10T10:51:58.972+00:00Hi John and Simon,
Returning to England from his ...Hi John and Simon,<br /><br />Returning to England from his second circumnavigation in July 1775 and not wishing to have the account of his second voyage ghost-written, the Admiralty allowed Cook to publish, and receive all proceeds from the journal of his second voyage. In the published narrative of this second voyage, Cook was determined to prevent the kind of editorial license that John Hawkesworth had enjoyed with his first, and which had caused such controversy on St. Helena, and he assumed full authorial control:<br /><br /> “I shall therefore conclude this introductory discourse with desiring the reader to excuse the inaccuracies of style, which doubtless he will frequently meet with in the following narrative; and that, when such occur, he will recollect that it is the production of a man, who has not had the advantage of much school education, but who has been constantly at sea from his youth; and though, with the assistance of a few good friends, he has passed through all the stations belonging to a seaman, from an apprentice boy in the coal trade, to a Post Captain in the Royal Navy, he has had no opportunity of cultivating letters. After this account of myself, the Public must not expect from me the elegance of a fine writer, or the plausibility of a professed book-maker; but will, I hope, consider me as a plain man, zealously exerting himself in the service of his Country, and determining to give the best account he is able of his proceedings”<br /><br />He also added the following footnote:<br /><br />“In the account given of St. Helena, in the narrative of my former voyage, I find some mistakes. Its inhabitants are far from exercising a wanton cruelty over their slaves; and they have had wheel carriages and porters' knots for many years. This note I insert with pleasure.”<br /><br />For details of Cook’s visits and the controversy see:<br />http://jcgrimshaw.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/cook-hawkesworth-and-wheelbarrows.htmlJohn Grimshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13254112057839551547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1576793257211626923.post-25217866604368121272014-01-09T10:26:45.447+00:002014-01-09T10:26:45.447+00:00Hi Simon,
John Grimshaw is the expert on this, an...Hi Simon,<br /><br />John Grimshaw is the expert on this, and he has pointed me to a page on the Captain Cook Society website:<br /><br /><i>Some fourteen hundred slaves did the bidding of the four hundred or so of the "Principal Inhabitants," who no doubt were relieved to find how easily Cook dismissed the charge of cruelty. He had no wish to stir up trouble for his compatriots, and his statement that "there is not a European settlement in the world where slaves are better treated and better fed than here" might have been technically correct. As compared with Banks, however, he was more than a little disingenuous, especially because he observed, with typical perspicacity, that the slaves "subsist cheifly on Yams, Rice and Fish" even while the island teemed with 2,500 cattle, 3,000 sheep, besides hogs, poultry, and goats--animals rarely of benefit to the slaves, as he noticed, but rather reserved for the settlers and the company ships. </i><br /> <br />http://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/the-return-home<br /><br />cheers<br /><br />JohnJohn Tyrrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14840928923304125310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1576793257211626923.post-64547050073180241412014-01-09T00:59:17.926+00:002014-01-09T00:59:17.926+00:00Cook obviously revised his view of the island, but...Cook obviously revised his view of the island, but is there anything to suggest that he retracted what had been published in his name regarding the severe treatment of slaves? I haven't seen Cook's testimony cited in any of the writing in the wake of the excavations in Rupert's Valley. Topical, I'd say. <br /><br />As ever, a very interesting post. <br />Simon Pipehttp://www.sthelenaonline.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1576793257211626923.post-91704242230092692362014-01-04T11:11:52.888+00:002014-01-04T11:11:52.888+00:00Hi Hels,
It was a routine stop for ships heading ...Hi Hels,<br /><br />It was a routine stop for ships heading north to Europe (and of course for whalers) before the opening of the Suez Canal. They could take on water and fresh supplies of food. The prevailing wind from the Cape is westwards, which made it a sensible mid Atlantic stop for sailing ships.<br /><br />cheers<br /><br />JohnJohn Tyrrellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14840928923304125310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1576793257211626923.post-57563008096376860472014-01-04T00:30:00.243+00:002014-01-04T00:30:00.243+00:00Why would Captain Cook have visited St Helena the ...Why would Captain Cook have visited St Helena the first time and why did Captain Cook did he return to St Helena in May 1775? Was the island a routine stop for ships on the north south run?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.com