CAPTAIN JAMES, the celebrated navigator, was born Oct. 27, 1728, at the village of Marton, Yorkshire, where his father was an agricultural labourer and farm-bailiff. Before the age of thirteen he was apprenticed to a haberdasher at Straiths, near Whitby; but having quarrelled with his master, he went as an apprentice on board a collier belonging to the port, and was soon afterwards appointed mate.

Early in the year 1753, Cook joined the royal navy, and served on board the Eagle of sixty guns. Having distinguished himself as an active and diligent seaman, he was, on the recommendation of Sir Hugh Palliser his commander, successively appointed master of the Grampus sloop, of the Garland, and the Mercury; in the last of which he served in the St Lawrence, and was present at the capture of Quebec. He was employed also in sounding and surveying the river, and published a chart of the channel from Quebec to the sea. After this expedition he was appointed master of the Northumberland; and while in this situation he eagerly studied mathematics and astronomy. In 1762, he was present at the recapture of Newfoundland; and the same year he returned to England. Early in the following year, Cook was employed in surveying the coasts of Newfoundland; and in 1764 he was appointed marine surveyor of Newfoundland and Labrador.

While in this capacity, Cook published in the Philosophical Transactions an Observation of an Eclipse of the Sun, which he had made at one of the Burgeo Islands, near Cape Ray; and the accuracy of his results, as compared with similar observations at home, obtained for its author the character of an able astronomer.

In the mean time, a spirit for geographical discovery, which had gradually declined since the beginning of the seventeenth century, began to revive; and Cook's former services pointed him out as a fit person to conduct an expedition which was then projected for the purpose of making observations on the impending transit of Venus, and prosecuting geographical researches in the South Pacific Ocean.

For this purpose he received a commission as lieutenant, and set sail in the Endeavour, a vessel of 370 tons, accompanied by several scientific gentlemen, among whom was Sir Joseph Banks. On the 13th April 1769 he reached Otaheite, where he erected an observatory, and succeeded in making the necessary astronomical observations.

From Otaheite Cook sailed in quest of the great continent then supposed to exist in the South Pacific, and reached the islands of New Zealand, which had remained a terra incognita since the time of their first discovery. His attempts to penetrate to the interior, however, were thwarted by the continued hostility of the natives; and he had to content himself with a voyage of six months' duration round the coast, in which he traced the existence of a narrow channel dividing the territory of New Zealand into two large islands. From New Zealand he proceeded to New Holland, and on the 28th April came in sight of Botany Bay. On account of the hostility of the natives, his discoveries here also were confined to the coast, of which he took possession in the name of Great Britain. The prosecution of this voyage was attended with the most imminent dangers, which on several occasions threatened the entire loss of the ship and crew.

From New Holland he sailed to New Guinea, establishing the complete separation of the two islands; and thence to Batavia, where his ship, greatly shattered and disabled, had to put in for repairs. During their stay the pestilential nature of the climate caused an extraordinary sickness among the crew, of whom 30 died before the vessel reached St Helena. Arriving in England June 11, 1771, Cook was immediately raised by the king to the rank of captain.

Shortly after his return, the existence of a great southern continent began to be matter of renewed speculation, and Cook was again appointed to conduct an exploratory expedition in higher southern latitudes than those which he had formerly traversed. For this purpose he was placed in command of the Resolution, a ship of 462 tons burden, and a smaller ship called the Adventure, with a complement in all of 193 men. Setting sail from Plymouth July 13, 1772, he reached Madeira on the 29th of the same month, and after touching at the Cape of Good Hope, he made his traverses in the specified latitudes, but without discovering land. Satisfied that no land existed within the limits of his researches, he abandoned the investigation on the 17th Jan. 1773, and sailed for New Zealand.

After wintering among the Society Islands, Cook again set out to explore the same latitudes further to the eastward, between Lat. 60° and 70°; and afterwards steering northward, he navigated the southern tropic from Easter Island to the New Hebrides, and discovered the island named by him New Caledonia. After a third traverse in still higher latitudes, he at length gave up all hope of finding land, and returned to England, where he arrived July 30, 1774. On his return, he was immediately raised to the rank of post captain, appointed captain of Greenwich Hospital, and soon afterwards unanimously elected a member of the Royal Society; from whom he received the prize of the Copley gold medal for the best experimental paper which had appeared during the year.

During the absence of Cook in the southern seas, the attention of government had been turned towards the discovery of a north-west passage in the arctic regions; and while it was thought unfair to appoint him immediately to the command of a third laborious expedition, every effort was made to enlist his services for the purpose. Stimulated by the glowing descriptions of the results likely to follow from the discovery, he at length volunteered to conduct the expedition, and his offer was willingly accepted.

Two ships, the Resolution and the Discovery, the latter under the command of Captain Charles Clerke, were speedily equipped and placed under his care. His instructions were, to sail first into the Pacific through the chain of the newly discovered islands which he had recently visited, and on reaching New Albion to proceed northward as far as Lat. 65°, and then to endeavour to find a passage to the Atlantic by the high northern latitudes, between Asia and America. To aid in the expedition, several ships were fitted out to attempt a passage on the other side from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Setting sail from the Nore June 25, 1776, he cruised for a considerable time in the South Pacific, discovering several small islands; and in the spring of 1777, judging it too far advanced in the season for attempting the navigation of the northern seas, he bore away to the Friendly Islands. Here he continued for several months, and only set sail for the north in January 1778. On his passage from the Friendly Islands, he discovered a group which he named the Sandwich Islands, after the Earl of Sandwich, who had taken great interest in the expedition. After circumnavigating these, and laying down their position in a chart, Cook reached the coast of America in March 1778; and following the coastline northward, penetrated into the bay afterwards known as Cook's Inlet. Disappointed of a passage in this direction, he sailed for Behring's Straits, where he found the passage again intercepted by an impenetrable wall of ice. Returning to winter at the Sandwich Islands, he discovered Mowee and Owhyhee, at the latter of which he met his tragic death. During the night of the 13th February 1779, one of the Discovery's boats was stolen by the natives; and Cook, in order to recover it, proceeded to put in force the usual expedient of seizing the person of the king until reparation should be made. Having landed on the following day, a scuffle ensued with the natives, which compelled the party of marines who attended him to retreat to their boats. Cook was the last to retire; and as he was nearing the shore he received a blow from behind which felled him to the ground. He rose immediately, and vigorously resisted the crowds that pressed upon him; but as the boat's crews, partly from confusion and partly from the distance at which they were compelled to act, could render him no assistance; he was soon overpowered. His body was left in possession of the natives, and on the return of the crews only the bones could be recovered. These were carefully put into a coffin, and committed to the deep with the usual honours, Feb. 21, 1779.

Captain Cook was a man of plain address and appearance, but looked well, and was upwards of six feet in height. His head was small; and he wore his hair, which was brown, tied behind. His face was full of expression; his nose well shaped; his eyes small, quick, and piercing; and his eyebrows prominent, which gave his countenance altogether an air of austerity. But notwithstanding his appearance, it was impossible for any one to excel him in kindness of disposition; as is evident from the whole tenor of his behaviour both to his own men and the many savage tribes with whom he had occasion to interfere.

As a navigator, the merits of Captain Cook were of the very highest order. His sagacity, decision, and perseverance, enabled him to overcome all difficulties; while his humanity and sympathetic kindness rendered him a favourite with his crews. His valuable researches into the nature and use of antiscorbutic medicines have proved of the highest utility to the navy of his country. The account of his first voyage was published under the care of Dr Hawkesworth, but his second was chronicled directly by himself. A narrative of his third voyage was published from his notes by Lieutenant King. Distinguished honours were paid to his memory both at home and by foreign courts; and a suitable pension was settled upon his widow.

After the death of Cook, the command of the expedition devolved on Captain Charles Clerke; and after an unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the Polar Sea in the following summer the ships returned to England in Oct. 1780.