Anthony Hill does it again - a brilliant concise account of Cook's voyage to Australia with just a touch of PC regarding the tribes that the navigator comes across. Hill takes the life of Isaac Manley, a young gentleman apprenticed to the Endeavour's Master Robert Molineux. Using Cook, Banks and various other crew members' journals, Hill has recreated their journey from England around the tip of South America, to the paradise of Tahiti, the circumnavigation of New Zealand, and finally the last undiscovered continent Australia. He then shows how a disastrous stopover in Batavia resulted in many of his crew succumbing to dysentry on the final leg of their journey home. Young Issac has had no sea-faring experience prior to setting foot on the Endeavour and must very quickly learn the ropes if he is to survive at sea. Indeed Isaac survives to a ripe old age as a Rear Admiral and the last survivor of Cook's expedition. Hill has also used aboriginal, Maori and Tahitian sources to try and explain the misunderstandings between the English and the native inhabitants of the lands Cook visits which provides a fascinating insight into the difficulties faced when two cultures clash.
p.28-29 The dangers of sea life. Alex stands in a coil of rope and is dragged overboard.
I read this book not long after visiting the National Maritime Museum in Sydney where the replica Endeavour is berthed. I was able to go onboard and so a lot of this book has futher reference because I have actually seen and touched and experienced their quarters and implements first hand. There is only one original timber in the whole ship but I was able to touch it and think about the hard life that these men lived. I have also been to Cooktown, climbed the hill that Cook did and have also sailed over the reef so could really envisage this amazing historical story . An excellent book for students to study . See http://www.penguin.com.au/PUFFIN/NOTES/secondary-pdf/Captain%20Cooks%20Apprentic... for Teacher's notes. ( )