The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook round the World

During Charles Darwin’s 1831-6 voyage on the Beagle, his on-board library included ‘Cook’s voyages’ (the edition is not specified). This illustrated 1821 edition, in seven volumes, is representative of the versions available in the early nineteenth century. Volumes 5-7 cover the third Pacific voyage of James Cook (1728-79), which began in July 1776 and ended in his death in Hawaii. Volume 5 begins with the orders outlining the main objective of the third voyage, which was to search for the Pacific end of the North-West Passage for two summers. They emphasise the importance of good relations with other colonial powers, notably Spain, and of periodic recuperation in harbour. This volume contains Cook’s journal of the voyage up to July 1777, via the Cape, Tasmania, and New Zealand to Tahiti and Tonga, and includes detailed descriptions of Pacific Islander customs together with several word-lists.