Two hundred and fifty years ago this month, a ship called the Endeavour
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Endeavour:
esfuerzo
set sail
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set sail:
zarpó
from Plymouth on the south coast of England on a voyage of discovery. It was the first of three incredible journeys
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journeys:
viajes
on which Capitan James Cook and his crew
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crew:
tripulación
sailed thousands of miles into unchartered territories
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unchartered territories:
territorios inexplorados
, crossing the Antarctic Circle for the first time and mapping lands from New Zealand to Hawaii. The purpose of the first expedition was scientific: to observe the transit of Venus, one of the wonders
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wonders:
maravillas
of the natural world. Yet Cook had secret instructions, which he was only allowed to
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he was only allowed to:
sólo tenía permitido (él)
open when he reached Tahiti.
COUNTRY BOY
James Cook was no ordinary captain
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no ordinary captain:
no era un capitán ordinario
. The son of a farmer, he was born in Yorkshire in 1728. Like many teenagers, he apprenticed on coal-carrying boats
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he apprenticed on coal-carrying boats:
fue aprendiz en barcos carboneros
and then joined the merchant navy
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joined the merchant navy:
se alistó en la marina mercante
. Yet while many hated sea life, Cook showed both physical courage and worked hard, studying mathematics, charting
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charting:
cartografiando
, geography and astronomy. In fact, his skills as an astronomer and cartographer impressed the Royal Navy so much that he was promoted again and again.
THE ENDEAVOUR
At a time when British overseas exploration
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overseas exploration:
exploración en ultramar
was of great interest, the Royal Society appointed
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appointed:
nombró
Cook as commander of the Endeavour, which sailed on the 26th of August 1768. On his first voyage Cook rounded
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rounded:
circunnavegó
Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of the Americas, crossed the Pacific and arrived at Tahiti in June 1769. Having observed the transit of Venus
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SPEAK UP EXPLAINS
El tránsito de Venus. El tránsito del planeta por delante del Sol es muy raro: se produce cada 243 años, con pares de tránsitos separados por un intervalo de ocho años. El primer científico que predijo un tránsito de Venus fue Kepler en 1627.
, he opened his confidential instructions: Cook was ordered to confirm the existence of a large mass of land on the southern hemisphere
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southern hemisphere:
hemisferio sur
known since the Greek age as the Terra Australis Incognita.
UNKNOWN LANDS
Capitan Cook and his crew headed
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headed:
se dirigió
west. They mapped the complete coastline of New Zealand. They surveyed
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surveyed:
sondeó
and named features, recorded islands and coastlines and took accounts of local customs
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took accounts of local customs:
tomó nota de las costumbres locales
. They also collected many samples
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samples:
muestras
of flora and fauna from new places. Then they revealed to the world the extraordinary truth about Terra Australis Incognita: that it did not exist! In its place, Cook became the first European to discover a new land that came to be called Australia.
THE GOOD CAPTAIN
While his discoveries led to settlements
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settlements:
asentamientos
, Cook himself was only interested in information. By the standards
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by the standards:
según las normas
of the time, he also treated his crew well and had good relations with other cultures. It was a hard life. Sailors were exposed to terrible diseases caused by malnutrition. Discipline was tight
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tight:
severa
, sea storms and shipwrecks
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shipwrecks:
naufragio
common, and there were pirate ships. Furthermore, no women were allowed on board
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on board:
a bordo
; although, it seems, some did join up pretending
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pretending:
fingiendo
to be men! We know this, as there are reports
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reports:
informes
that babies were born. What a life they must have endured!
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endured:
¡Qué vida debieron soportar!
