nuove mete per gli inglesi – James Cook and Australia

Not only Americawas on the English routes of commerce and conquest. Australia’s first inhabitants arrived, perhaps by boat, from the Indonesia archipelago about 40,000 years ago but it was only in the second half of the 18^th century .that Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and English explorers started observing the island.

Then, in 1770, Captain Cook, on board of the Endeavour, explored the east coast and claimed it for Great Britain.

Captain James Cook (1728 – 1779) was an 18th century explorer and navigator whose achievements (= successi) in mapping the Pacific, New Zealand and Australiaradically changed western perceptions of world geography. As one of the very few men in the 18th century navy to rise through the ranks (=farsi strada) , Cook was particularly sympathetic (=comprensivo) to the needs of ordinary sailors.

James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in a small village near Middlesbrough in Yorkshire. His father was a farmer. At the age of 17, Cook moved to the coast, settling (= stabilendosi) in Whitbyand finding work with a coal (= carbone) merchant. In 1755, Cook enlisted (= si arruolò) in the Royal Navy, serving in North America where he learnt to survey and chart (= analizzare e tracciare) coastal waters.

In 1769, the planet Venus was due to pass in front of the Sun, a rare event visible only in the southern hemisphere. The British government decided to send an expedition to observe the phenomenon. A more secret motive was to search for the fabled (= favoleggiati) southern continent. Cook was chosen (= fu scelto) as commander of the Whitby-built HMS Endeavour. Those on board included astronomer Charles Green and botanist Joseph Banks.

Endeavourarrived in Tahiti in April 1769 where Green was able to observe the transit of Venus. Endeavour continued on to New Zealand, and then sailed (= veleggiò) along the length (= per la lunghezza) of Australia‘s eastern coast, which had never before been seen by Europeans. Cook claimed it for Britain and named it New South Wales. Cook and his crew (= ciurma) then returned home, arriving in July 1771.

In 1772, not satisfied by his previous exploits (= successi) , Cook set out on a second voyage to look for the southern continent. His two ships sailed close to the Antarctic coast but were forced to turn back by the cold. They then visited New Zealand and Tahiti, returning to England in 1775.

Cook’s third voyage was to find the North-West Passage that was believed to link (= unire) the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Unable (= incapace) to find the fabled route, Cook took his two ships south and explored the island of Hawaii. Relations with the islanders were soured (= depressi) after the theft (= furto) of a ship’s boat. On 14 February Cook tried to take the local leader hostage (= ostaggio il leader locale) . There was a scuffle (= lotta) and Cook was stabbed (= pugnalato)and killed. The following words are from Captain Cook’s journal when he first saw Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and nearly lost his ship there

“[…] it is a wall of coral rock (= un muro di roccia di corallo) rising (= che saliva) almost perpendicular out of the ocean. The large waves of the vast ocean meeting with so sudden (= improvvisa) a resistance make a terrible surf (= onda) breaking mountains high….!”