THE EXPEDITION TO TAHITI

The Royal Society, in fact, had begun discussing the scientific advantages of the Venus observations early in 1767 and that year invited to their meetings Alexander Dalrymple, an experienced navigator and, briefly, ship's captain of the Cuddalore while in the employ of the British East India Company in Madras from 1752 to 1767. Dalrymple was active in promoting the theory of the counter-balancing continent; he was also a well-informed historian, an avid collector of Portuguese and Spanish exploration and colonising documents, maps and charts. Moreover, he was keen to implement the Royal Society's recommendation to lead the expedition to Tahiti. The Admiralty, however, insisted upon a naval officer to command the vessel that had already been selected by Dalrymple, the Earl of Pembroke, re-commissioned as the Endeavour, and extensively rebuilt. Instead, they chose James Cook, a warrant officer known for his navigational ability and meticulous hydrographic skills in Newfoundland and the St Lawrence region during the conflict with France in Canada. Dalrymple declined to travel as anything other than overall commander, although Joseph Banks, a gentleman naturalist, readily accepted the opportunity to take charge of the scientific aspects of the voyage.

Promoted to lieutenant, Cook supervised the provisioning of the ship at Deptford, and then set out from Plymouth on Friday, 26 August 1768, recording in his Journal that he ‘got under sail and put to sea having on board 94 persons including Officers Seamen Gentlemen and their servants’ (Cook 1770:4).