What was the purpose of Captain Cook's Endeavour voyage?

Answer 1

Captain's Cook's original mission was to observe the transil of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti. He was then under orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent, and claim it for Britain. In so doing, he charted the eastern coastline, making extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England.

Answer 2

James Cook was sent to observe the transit of Venus across the sun from the vantage point of Tahiti. Cook's ship, the 'Endeavour', departed England, on 25 August 1768 for this scientific mission. After this, Cook had orders to head south and west and secretly search for the unknown Great Southern Continent, or Terra Australis Incognita. He was to make notes and observations on the continent, and to claim for England any lands he thought were suitable for colonisation.

Answer 3

James Cook's original mission was to observe the transit of Venus (June 1769) from the vantage point of Tahiti. He was then under orders to try to find the great unknown southern continent of Terra Australis Incognita, which some believed to extend round the pole, and claim it for Britain.

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 east for New Holland, the eastern coast of which he later named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. He made extensive notes on the people, flora, fauna and prospective suitability for colonisation, and reported back to England, ultimately recommending New South Wales as a penal colony.

Answer 4

The original mission of James Cook, who was not yet a captain when he comanded the Endeavour, was to observe the transit of Venus from the vantage point of Tahiti.

Cook was then 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 is significant that, contrary to popular belief, James Cook did not discover Australia. The continent he explored had been discovered over 150 years before, by the Dutch and possibly even the Portuguese before then.