Why did Captain Cook leave Botany Bay?

Answer 1

Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a captain) did land in botany Bay, which he originally named Stingray Harbour. The renowned botanist who was with him, Sir Joseph Banks, was so impressed with Botany Bay that this ended up being the site recommended for colonisation.

It was Captain Arthur Phillip, who led the First Fleet of convicts to Australia, who decided Botany Bay was not a suitable settlement site.

Answer 2

James Cook (not yet a captain) was under orders to make notes on the flora and flora of any new lands he encountered, and to assess their suitability for colonisation. Botany Bay provided a harbour for him to land, and to go ashore with some of his men, in order to make and record his observations.

After observing the transit of Venus in June 1769, Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a Captain) went on to search for Terra Australis Incognita, the great continent which some believed to extend round the pole. Cook was under secret orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline of what he called "New South Wales" (now Australia), making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.

It was shortly after observing the transit of Venus that Cook came across New Zealand, which had already been discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642. He spent some months there, charting the coastline. Nearly a year later, he set sail westward for New Holland, the eastern coast of which he later named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain.

Captain Cook was commissioned by the Royal Society in England to search the southern seas and find the "Great Southland" ("Terra Australis") that was believed to exist in the world's southern oceans somewhere. The result was that although he hadn't been the first European to discover Australia, he was the first known to have sailed along and chart most of the eastern coast of Australia - which was eventually to become the most significant for settlement.

This was most significant in history because it helped to define the boundaries of the great southern nation: as a result, the Royal Society was still not satisfied that the great Terra Australis had actually yet been found, and Cook named the land, New South Wales, believing it to resemble Wales in the UK. Two years after this journey, in 1772, Cook was sent again to discover if another great land lay east of Australia. It was on this journey that he became the first European to cross the Antarctic Circle.

Answer 3

Captain Cook chose Botany Bay because it was a good harbor and a place to trade with the natives. However it did not have enough fresh water so the colony was moved to Port Jackson which had an even better harbor. Botany Bay also had a lot of fish which could be used for food.

Answer 4

Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a captain) left Botany Bay because he wished to continue north, charting the unexplored eastern side of the Australian continent.

Answer 5

He didn't