Captain Cook’s final voyage : the journal of midshipman George Gilbert
Full title: Captain Cook’s final voyage : the journal of midshipman George Gilbert / introduced and edited by Christine Holmes.
A contemporary account of Captain Cook’s third voyage by a 17-year-old midshipman assigned to Cook’s ship, Resolution, which, after rendezvousing with Discovery in Capetown, set of for a four-year voyage of discovery to find an alternate Northwest passage. A short introduction tries to trace Gilbert after the return of the ship, but is unable to track him after 1783. A facsimilie of his “Passing Certificate” (promotion to Lieutenant) is reproduced in the frontpiece of the book.
What’s really striking about his book is the dispassionate way in which it’s written. Everything is written in a matter-of-fact way, without any sort of sensationalism or prejudice. That’s not to say his opinion on what happened was unclear, there are several points where it’s clear he does not approve of the way things are going, but he presents it in a respectful say. For example, after some natives in the Society Islands steal a goat, Cook had many of their houses and canoes burned. About that, Gilbert says, “…and all about such a trifle as a small goat which was that eening brought onboard by the Natives. I can’t well account for Capt Cooks proceedings on this occasion as they were so very different from his conduct in like cases in his former voyages…” This isn’t the only example.
Gilberts description of the various natives he encounters along the way is most interesting. His descriptions give a vivid and clear account of characteristics, dress, behaviour, stature, and to some extent, customs. Accounts of wildlife, geography, topology, and navigation are given as well. The editor gives modern spelling in brackets after the place names that Gilbert uses, as in Otaheite [Tahiti] or Towi [Kauai].
The account of Cook’s death and the aftermath was likewise death with dispassionately.
One of the things that surprised me was, after reading so many of the Hornblower books, I wasn’t expecting the sailors to eat quite as much fish as they did. Forester makes it sound as if they’d refuse fish, but maybe I misinterpreted that; maybe they eat so much fish that anything else would be preferred.
Fascinating reading.
Update: “Fredrik and Crew on Maiken” has photos of what they call a “sea of stones” (floating pumice). Gilbert described this in the book while sailing near this same area (off Tonga). (Via The Thrilling Wonder Story).
