Aye Captain! My Captain!

Captain James Cook. Well, who doesn't know him right. He discovered Australia, almost figured out the cure for scurvy. Yeah, he actually was one of the first of many sailors to have not lost a single crew during the entire voyage. 

Now what was interesting about him was that, unlike many famous explorers, he was not a Captain before he sailed for his journey. He was a Lieutenant. One among the 900 Lieutenants of Britain. He wanted to prove himself and hence was given one of the difficult tasks of that time. He was to travel south to discover land, that may or may not existed otherwise. Another thing that set him apart from his predecessors was his interest in Astronomy. He was so keen with the Planets, the distance between them and so on. He would draw charts to keep himself updated about the universe beyond the seas. He was the only sailor (or perhaps the only man) to have calculated the distance between the earth and sun with much accuracy.

He also took in this Botanist on his voyage. This botany would then go on to draw the many species of flowers and plants that were previously left undiscovered. This was one of the reasons, how they came to realise that vitamin C in citrus fruits prevents scurvy. Although, the Sauerkraut that Captain Cook insisted to be in the meals proved worthy as well. But he was not aware that sauerkraut contained the antidote for scurvy as well.

He was hailed as a Father figure by his crew members for his unconventional ways of getting things done. For instance, when the crew refused to eat Sauerkraut. He removed it from their list and placed it as a compulsory item on the main crew list. Now that made the crew of the lesser positions wonder, and soon enough the entire ship's crew were into Sauerkraut. It saved their lives when some came down with scurvy. He was humane even when his quest required him to take over territories. Before he got off the ship on Australia, he instructed him crew members to interact with the natives as they would with one another. Tell them that they were there to visit, to look around, and not suppress them in any way. No mis-understanding was caused between the Captain Cook's crew and the natives. Unlike, Ferdinand Magellan who got himself slaughtered for wanting the Lapu Lapu (Phillippines) natives to succumb to Christianity and belong to Spain. It was all war, sadly. 

Now the funny bit about their entire voyage was, the entire crew of the Endeavour were incapable of swimming. Surprising init? I always thought, if you were a sailor, you better be good at swimming. Sadly, Captain Cook was handed with a bunch of people who had no idea how to save themselves if Endeavor crashes. Which by the way, almost ocurred. 

As the Endeavor approached The Great Barrier Reef, the large wooden ship hit the rocks that surfaced. It created a hole in the ship causing water to flow through. The tides were low, and there was no way they could get back at sailing unless, the ship decides to unhook itself from the rocks.

The ship has to be saved. Lest, my crew will drown.

Those were the Captain's thoughts. According to his Great-Great-Great-Nephew, he managed to throw out some of the heavier items off the ship to lighten the weight. He then, used straws, cloth and dung to secure the hole for the time being. And they waited. 

When the high tide arrived, the ship was back on its way to England. Lieutenant James Cook became Captain James Cook, who discovered Australia. 

He was truly a Hero.