0:00:18 > 0:00:20CRASHING
0:00:27 > 0:00:34One night nearly 250 years ago, a ship ran aground on a treacherous reef in the Pacific Ocean.
0:00:38 > 0:00:45Water poured in through her wooden hull, threatening to sink her and drown all those on board.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49The ship that faced a watery grave
0:00:49 > 0:00:53appeared to be nothing more than an unremarkable coaling vessel
0:00:53 > 0:00:59captained by an unknown commander on an obscure scientific field trip.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04But this ship had a secret mission, one that would redraw the map of the world
0:01:04 > 0:01:08and make a hero of her undistinguished leader.
0:01:11 > 0:01:17The ship was called the Endeavour and her commander was Captain James Cook.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22This is the incredible story of one of the greatest sea adventures in history,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27a voyage that would transform James Cook from a naval nobody into a national hero.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48SEA SHANTY BEING SUNG
0:01:52 > 0:01:57# Hang all politicians Hurray, boys, hurray
0:01:57 > 0:02:01# It makes work for morticians Hurray, boys, hurray... #
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Two-and-a-half centuries after his adventures,
0:02:05 > 0:02:10Captain Cook is a household name. But the story is often misunderstood.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15People think he discovered New Zealand and this place - Australia.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18But in truth, he didn't.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20But his story is no less remarkable.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25As an explorer myself, I'm astonished by his achievements
0:02:25 > 0:02:30and I want to tell you the real story of Captain Cook.
0:02:38 > 0:02:44The Endeavour sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of August 1768.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52It was the Age of Enlightenment, an era of intellectual ferment.
0:02:52 > 0:02:59Huge advances were being made in the fields of science, literature and the exploration of the globe.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Officially, the Endeavour was on a scientific mission
0:03:07 > 0:03:12to measure an astronomical phenomenon - the transit of Venus,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15the rare moment when Venus crosses in front of the sun.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21If successfully observed, these measurements would enable astronomers
0:03:21 > 0:03:25to calculate the distance between the Earth and the sun,
0:03:25 > 0:03:32a figure which could then be used to measure the dimensions of the solar system itself.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35The ship's orders were to measure the transit
0:03:35 > 0:03:40from the middle of the South Pacific, the other side of the world.
0:03:40 > 0:03:47But this wasn't the only reason for the mission because, on board, was a second set of secret instructions.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51These sealed instructions contained the real mission of the voyage.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56No-one, not even the ship's commander, knew where they would lead them.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03The 94-man crew reflected the spirit of the age.
0:04:03 > 0:04:10As well as an astronomer, the Endeavour included in her ranks two scientists and two artists.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15They were all under the command of James Cook.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20Of course, today, James Cook is world famous,
0:04:20 > 0:04:25but at the time of the Endeavour voyage, he was a complete unknown.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30In fact, Captain Cook wasn't even a captain. He was a lieutenant.
0:04:30 > 0:04:37In the Royal Navy at the time - 1768 - there were 300 captains and over 900 lieutenants,
0:04:37 > 0:04:43which shows you how far down the naval hierarchy he really was.
0:04:43 > 0:04:49Indeed, Lieutenant Cook appeared to be a surprising choice for the mission.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53His career had begun inauspiciously, as Cook himself wrote.
0:04:53 > 0:05:00I am a man who has not the advantage of education, nor natural abilities for writing,
0:05:00 > 0:05:07but one who has constantly been at sea from his youth as apprentice boy in the coal trade.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13After a decade on board the coaling ships of northeast England,
0:05:13 > 0:05:19Cook enlisted as an able seaman in the Royal Navy, rising to the rank of ship's master.
0:05:19 > 0:05:2512 years on, he had never made a voyage as long as the one now proposed
0:05:25 > 0:05:28and had commanded nothing bigger than a humble schooner.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Cook faced a problem that held him back - class.
0:05:33 > 0:05:39Cook was a farmer's son from Yorkshire, not the right candidate for the class-obsessed Royal Navy.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44This is why, by the ripe age of 40, he hadn't risen up the ranks
0:05:44 > 0:05:50and why the Admiralty, after picking him to lead the expedition, kept him at arm's length,
0:05:50 > 0:05:55refusing to promote him to captain. They gave him the responsibility but not the rank.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00They ultimately chose Cook because, working class or not,
0:06:00 > 0:06:06they knew he possessed the skills that made him perfectly fitted to this mission.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09He proved himself to be a skilled navigator and surveyor
0:06:09 > 0:06:14and, more appropriately, had developed a fascination with astronomy.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20For Cook, this expedition was his chance to prove himself.
0:06:21 > 0:06:26At last, here was the opportunity to reveal his talents,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29to show that class was no barrier to achievement.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31That's good, lads.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34But it was a huge challenge.
0:06:34 > 0:06:40To carry out his mission, Cook would have to navigate his ship to the other side of the world,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43battling treacherous seas and dangerous currents.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49It's a beautiful day in a flat, calm Sydney Harbour.
0:06:49 > 0:06:56What's it like to sail these boats in rough weather on big passages? You've made those passages.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Well, you get all kinds of weather.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02You get this sort of weather round the Tropics
0:07:02 > 0:07:04in the southern latitudes.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08In the high latitudes, it's cold, rough, the ship rolls heavily.
0:07:08 > 0:07:14You have to be up the mast sometimes when it's rolling, pitching violently.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18And of course, in Cook's day, they would have had no back-up.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23If we recreated this journey, we'd have modern comms and navigation.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26We would always know we had some back-up.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33A long way from home, no communication. Like a ship lost in space. Couldn't call Mum.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39To make things worse, the Endeavour sailed alone.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45It was usual for ships on these journeys to travel with support vessels in case of trouble.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51What's more, she was just a basic, workmanlike coaling vessel. Certainly not glamorous.
0:07:51 > 0:07:58As she plodded south, she looked like the most unlikely ship in the world to be making history.
0:07:58 > 0:08:03As if that wasn't enough, there was the question
0:08:03 > 0:08:09of whether Cook could even sustain a crew fit enough to sail his lone ship across the world.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14Can you imagine 100 men crammed together on a small ship like this, 100ft long?
0:08:14 > 0:08:18Conditions below must have been appalling, let alone the smell.
0:08:18 > 0:08:25Disease was rife. And even though Cook was incredibly strict about keeping his men and the ship clean,
0:08:25 > 0:08:31there was one disease that cleanliness couldn't prevent - scurvy.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36Over the years, Cook has been acclaimed
0:08:36 > 0:08:40as the man who discovered the cure for the terrible disease of scurvy.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43But in fact, it's not quite so simple.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46The true story goes back centuries.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55Scurvy was the scourge of the navy.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59It was a particularly gruesome way to die.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04Gums bled, teeth fell out, limbs seized up...
0:09:04 > 0:09:07ulcers broke out, old wounds reopened.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13And, most revoltingly, gum tissue oozed out of the mouth and began to rot,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17making the victim's breath stink.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Death must have come as a blessed release.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Disease decimated crews.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29In the 300 years before Cook's journey on the Endeavour,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33over two million sailors had died from scurvy.
0:09:33 > 0:09:40A captain could expect to lose at least 40% of his men, a figure often rising to 80%.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Cook was faced with a massive problem.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Very little was known about scurvy
0:09:49 > 0:09:54and there was no agreement as to what caused it or what might prevent it.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00Some believed it was caused by bad air, thickening of the blood, lack of oxygen, sadness
0:10:00 > 0:10:04or even the fat being skimmed off the boiling pots on board ship.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07The treatments were even more bizarre -
0:10:07 > 0:10:13bloodletting, bathing in animal's blood or having the poor victim buried up to his neck in the sand!
0:10:13 > 0:10:15Of course, none of them worked.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18- Hi, Nigel.- Hi, Paul.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20- Nice to see you.- Come on board.
0:10:20 > 0:10:26Astonishingly, some people had stumbled upon the real cure for scurvy
0:10:26 > 0:10:28during the previous 200 years.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Who were these people that found the cure for scurvy?
0:10:32 > 0:10:36A Dutch physician in the middle of the 17th century had noted a cure.
0:10:36 > 0:10:42And then, with the East India Company ships coming across the Indian Ocean,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46there had been a fellow called Woodall, who was a surgeon.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50He had noted one of the cures round about 1636.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53This was a long time before Cook's voyage.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58A long, long time. One of the problems, of course, was that
0:10:58 > 0:11:04these people weren't just noting one cure. It was one of a number of things. It wasn't so clear.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08What did Cook do on the Endeavour to try and prevent scurvy?
0:11:08 > 0:11:13He was told to take a number of things which were meant to cure scurvy.
0:11:15 > 0:11:19He took wort, which is a kind of an infusion made from malt.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24He took portable soup which was like a large stock cube.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28You mixed it with wheat and served it as a gruel.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33One of the main things he introduced was this stuff - sauerkraut.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Pickled cabbage. Let's have a go.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39Blimey.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42Oh!
0:11:46 > 0:11:51It's not the best! Particularly, if you've got to eat it for three years!
0:11:51 > 0:11:54Very much an acquired taste.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08Cook hoped that his special diet would work.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12But making sure the men stuck to it was no easy matter.
0:12:12 > 0:12:18After two months at sea, some of the crew had had enough of the ship's rations.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23On the 16th of September, two men rebelled against the rigid diet.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28As Cook noted in his daily journal, punishment was swift and severe.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Punished Henry Stevens, seaman, and Thomas Dunster, marine,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43with 12 lashes each for refusing to take their allowance of fresh beef.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51This punishment might seem harsh for the crime,
0:12:51 > 0:12:55but the lash was a regular part of navy life
0:12:55 > 0:13:00and the refusal to obey orders was tantamount to mutiny.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08This punishment shows how determined Cook was to keep his men healthy.
0:13:08 > 0:13:14He was essentially a very humane man. Other captains would have dished out two dozen lashings.
0:13:14 > 0:13:21In fact, Cook preferred to use a bit of psychology rather than the lash to get the men to obey his orders.
0:13:21 > 0:13:27The next time there was reluctance to eat the diet, he came up with a great plan.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31The men hated the sauerkraut that he put in their diet,
0:13:31 > 0:13:36so he took it off their menu and just kept it on the officers' menu instead.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41Of course, overnight, sauerkraut became the most desired dish on board.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46For such are the tempers and dispositions of seamen in general
0:13:46 > 0:13:50that the moment they saw their superiors set a value on it,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55it becomes the finest stuff in the world, and the inventor a damned honest fellow.
0:13:55 > 0:14:02Despite Cook's careful diet, scurvy wasn't completely banished from the decks of the Endeavour.
0:14:05 > 0:14:13The disease struck many of the crew, including one of the expedition's most vital members, Joseph Banks.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21Banks was a young, fantastically wealthy playboy
0:14:21 > 0:14:25who had effectively bought his way onto the ship.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32He had paid £10,000, over £1 million in today's money,
0:14:32 > 0:14:34for his place on board -
0:14:34 > 0:14:39more than twice as much as the official state funding of the expedition.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Approximately ten...
0:14:43 > 0:14:48And all to indulge his personal passion - botany.
0:14:48 > 0:14:55Banks brought with him an entourage of fellow botanists and artists whose task was to collect and study
0:14:55 > 0:14:58the new plants encountered on the voyage.
0:14:58 > 0:15:04He also brought with him, as any English gentleman would do, two greyhounds.
0:15:06 > 0:15:12But right now, Banks's whole project, not to mention his life, was threatened by scurvy.
0:15:12 > 0:15:18At first he tried to treat it by drinking a pint of wort each night.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21But to no effect.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Then he tried another remedy...
0:15:28 > 0:15:33"I flew to the lemon juice. The effect was surprising.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35"In less than a week, my gums became as firm as ever
0:15:35 > 0:15:43"and, at this time, I am troubled with nothing but a few pimples on my face."
0:15:49 > 0:15:56Banks has actually stumbled across the cure for scurvy - the vitamin C in fresh fruit and vegetables,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59particularly citrus fruits like these.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04But neither Banks nor Cook knew really if they'd found the remedy.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09They still saw the lemon juice as one possible cure amongst many.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14But as the Endeavour sailed on,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17it became clear that Cook's strategy was working.
0:16:17 > 0:16:22Despite a few scares, nobody was actually dying from scurvy.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25In 1768, this was unheard of.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31Cook might not have known about vitamin C, present even in the sauerkraut.
0:16:31 > 0:16:38but by enforcing his rigid diet in the first place, he was making medical and naval history.
0:16:38 > 0:16:43From the voyage of the Endeavour onwards, the Admiralty recognised
0:16:43 > 0:16:45the crucial importance of diet.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Limes became standard on all British voyages -
0:16:50 > 0:16:54hence the nickname limeys - and deaths fell dramatically.
0:16:58 > 0:17:04After five months at sea, the voyage appeared to be going well.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08Cook had scurvy under control and the ship was making good time,
0:17:08 > 0:17:15but they were still 8,000km from the heart of the South Pacific where they were to carry out their mission
0:17:15 > 0:17:19and the worst part of the passage was yet to come.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23The voyage was about to enter its most dangerous part -
0:17:23 > 0:17:27the treacherous waters around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32These waters are regarded as amongst the most dangerous in the world,
0:17:32 > 0:17:38with big storms, huge waves, fog and icebergs.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42And Cook had to sail right through them.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48The Endeavour was battered by fierce storms
0:17:48 > 0:17:55and Cook was forced to make three failed attempts to enter the waters around the cape.
0:17:55 > 0:18:02Finally, on his fourth attempt, sailing against strong winds and currents,
0:18:02 > 0:18:09the Endeavour made it through. Cook was beginning to show the character that would make him great.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14Rod Fleck is Cook's great-great-great nephew.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17What kind of person do you think he was?
0:18:17 > 0:18:21I feel that he was very humane and...he liked people.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27He wouldn't do anything nasty to a person. He had a gentle disposition.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31Very reserved, quiet, a kind and gentle person.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37He had the natural ability, I feel, to pick up things, to learn.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40And, apart from that, he could carry it forward.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45There's a lot of people who learn, but they can never go through and do the things.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51- That's what I feel he had. - That would really help his credibility as a leader of men.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56Isaac Smith said - he went on a few voyages with him, later Admiral -
0:18:56 > 0:19:01he said that he was...feared but loved by his crew.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06Feared because of the lash, but they loved him. That's it.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09What more can you say about someone like that?
0:19:15 > 0:19:20As the Endeavour sailed on across the Pacific, the seas became calmer
0:19:20 > 0:19:22and the weather more tropical.
0:19:25 > 0:19:30As the voyage progressed, the ship made various stops,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33which provided Banks and his party
0:19:33 > 0:19:39with the opportunity to collect new plant specimens and shoot previously unknown animals and birds.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Cook's cabin rapidly became flooded
0:19:44 > 0:19:49with all kinds of strange and unfamiliar plant and animal life.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03Then, on the 13th of April 1769, after 33 weeks at sea,
0:20:03 > 0:20:07land was finally spotted.
0:20:07 > 0:20:14Cook had arrived at the South Pacific island that would hopefully make his name.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19It was here in Tahiti that he was to carry out his mission and measure the transit of Venus.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25The Endeavour had arrived in paradise.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30This was a land of plenty and sexual liberation,
0:20:30 > 0:20:36where fruit fell from the trees and beautiful women offered themselves freely.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43But Cook had important work to do,
0:20:43 > 0:20:50work that could potentially widen our understanding of the universe, and finally prove his abilities.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Cook had successfully sailed halfway round the world,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00now he had to prove himself as an astronomer.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05He knew he had just one chance of getting his measurements right.
0:21:05 > 0:21:11Although he was just 1 of 77 observers around the world measuring the transit,
0:21:11 > 0:21:17he was the most important because he was the only one in the southern hemisphere.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23And that was the only place in the world where you could clearly see the transit from beginning to end.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29And as if that wasn't enough pressure, the transit of Venus is an incredibly rare event.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33It wouldn't happen again for another 105 years!
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Cook immediately began to prepare for the transit.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42But before work in Tahiti began,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45he gave his crew some highly unusual instructions.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51You are to endeavour by every fair means to cultivate a friendship with the natives
0:21:51 > 0:21:55and to treat them with all imaginable humanity.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Cook's orders were extraordinarily radical.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05In the 18th century, most explorers' idea of co-operating with indigenous peoples
0:22:05 > 0:22:07was to go in with guns blazing.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12But Cook preferred negotiation over brute force, making friends rather than enemies.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20In the event, there was no need for violence. The people of Tahiti
0:22:20 > 0:22:24proved to be warm, open and welcoming. Banks wrote lyrically...
0:22:24 > 0:22:30If we quarrel with those Indians, we should not agree with angels.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34But the Tahitians did possess one annoying trait.
0:22:34 > 0:22:40It started as an irritation, but was to escalate into something much more serious.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46They liked to steal!
0:22:48 > 0:22:53It was hard to keep them out of the ship as they climb like monkeys,
0:22:53 > 0:22:59but it was still harder to keep them from stealing whatever came within their reach.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03In this, they are prodigious experts.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Metal was an especially attractive commodity to Tahitians.
0:23:09 > 0:23:15It wasn't long before all kinds of things were going missing, including snuff boxes and opera glasses.
0:23:15 > 0:23:21The Endeavour's store of iron nails were an especially attractive commodity,
0:23:21 > 0:23:27particularly once the crew realised that a handful of them could be swapped for sex with local women!
0:23:32 > 0:23:35But petty thieving soon turned into disaster.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40One morning, one of the most vital pieces of equipment for measuring the transit -
0:23:40 > 0:23:43the astronomical quadrant - was discovered missing.
0:23:43 > 0:23:49Without it, the measurement of the transit could not take place.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55Banks found out from a local chieftain the name of the thief and the direction that he'd headed
0:23:55 > 0:23:57and he set off running after him,
0:23:57 > 0:24:05through the blazing heat and the jungle, across the island, for 11 kilometres.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09It wasn't long before great hordes of Tahitians turned out
0:24:09 > 0:24:12to see who would win and what the outcome would be.
0:24:12 > 0:24:19Eventually, Banks found the quadrant discarded by the side of the trail. The thief had just thrown it away.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22The stage was set for measuring the transit.
0:24:26 > 0:24:32The day dawned and the omens were good. The skies were crystal clear.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36As the thermometer rose to 119 degrees,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40Cook and his team of observers trained their telescopes on the sun.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47Astronomer Wayne Orchiston has studied the astronomical mission.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51I asked him how Cook measured the transit of Venus.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56Well, let me show you. You've got the ideal T-shirt there.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01We've got the sun there, and this beautiful little nut will represent Venus.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05We want to observe the transit of Venus as it travels across the sun.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09So Venus approaches the edge of the sun, onto the sun...
0:25:09 > 0:25:12and then exits the sun.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16That transit from here to here will take just over six hours.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20To determine the transit accurately, we record precisely
0:25:20 > 0:25:26when Venus is just on the edge of the sun but outside it, on the edge of the sun but inside it -
0:25:26 > 0:25:32just touching the limb of the sun. We call that first and second contacts.
0:25:32 > 0:25:38The third contact is just as it approaches and touches the edge of the sun, fourth contact as it leaves.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42It's those four contact points and their times that are critical.
0:25:42 > 0:25:48We observe those by looking through the telescope, observing Venus as it approaches the sun
0:25:48 > 0:25:53and then, with the clock we've got adjacent to the telescope, recording the times.
0:25:56 > 0:26:03But as Venus crept in front of the sun, Cook realised he had a major problem on his hands.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06When Venus enters the sun,
0:26:06 > 0:26:13once it gets to this point - second contact - Venus has an atmosphere round it, so you see a hazy shadow.
0:26:13 > 0:26:19And so it is very hard to know when Venus gets right on to the sun.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22As it moves further and further onto the sun,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27you end up with a little strip of shadow linking the edge of the sun.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31So when do you decide that second contact has occurred?
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Is it here, or here, or here?
0:26:36 > 0:26:40When Cook compared the timings of the transit, it didn't tally.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44The measurements varied by nearly a minute
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and he needed them to be exact.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53Now it seemed Cook had travelled halfway round the world, only for his mission to end in failure.
0:26:59 > 0:27:06But another opportunity was about to present itself. One even greater than the measurement of the transit.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Cook's real mission was only just beginning.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14It was time to open the secret instructions.
0:27:17 > 0:27:24If achieved, these orders would transform Britain into the richest and most powerful nation on Earth
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and turn Cook into a national hero.
0:27:27 > 0:27:35"You are to proceed to the southward in order to make discovery of the continent
0:27:35 > 0:27:41"until you arrive in the latitude of 40 degrees, unless you sooner fall in with it."
0:27:41 > 0:27:44The real purpose of Cook's mission was now revealed -
0:27:44 > 0:27:48the discovery of the fabled Great Southern Continent.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01Hey, John. Thanks for letting me on. Right, give me something to do.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Well, we need to get that out.
0:28:03 > 0:28:10In the 18th century, it was widely assumed that there was a Great Southern Continent,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12somewhere in the South Pacific.
0:28:12 > 0:28:19They were so confident it was there, it was as certain as the sun and the moon exists.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21It was even given a name -
0:28:21 > 0:28:26Terra Australis Incognita - unknown land of the south.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28It was somewhere out there.
0:28:31 > 0:28:36The notion of the Great Southern Continent dates from the classical world.
0:28:36 > 0:28:41The Ancient Greeks had theorised about its existence in the 1st century AD.
0:28:41 > 0:28:48By the Renaissance, scientists argued that, since the Earth was spherical, there must be
0:28:48 > 0:28:54a great land mass in the Southern Hemisphere to counterbalance the vast continents in the north.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57This was no ordinary continent.
0:28:57 > 0:29:02By the 18th century, it was believed it covered most of the Southern Hemisphere,
0:29:02 > 0:29:07a far greater land mass than anything we now know to exist.
0:29:07 > 0:29:10All somebody needed to do was find it.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17This lost continent was imagined to be a paradise on Earth.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21A land overflowing with natural riches.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Whichever nation claimed it first stood to reap massive rewards.
0:29:25 > 0:29:31Exploiting the continent's vast riches and commanding military and trading routes in the Pacific.
0:29:31 > 0:29:37It had become the Holy Grail of empire and exploration.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45This explains why Cook's orders were secret.
0:29:45 > 0:29:52The British Government did not want their foreign rivals to know there was an expedition afoot.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56What better cover for the mission than a simple coaling ship
0:29:56 > 0:30:00on a science expedition to measure the transit of Venus?
0:30:00 > 0:30:05The British Government wanted to get to the southern continent first, and in secret.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10In an era when undiscovered land represented power and wealth,
0:30:10 > 0:30:14there was intense competition to find this elusive continent.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19This globe shows us all that was known of the world in the 1750s.
0:30:19 > 0:30:26It was believed that the Great Southern Continent was somewhere round here in the South Pacific.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31It was even given an exact location - 40 degrees south -
0:30:31 > 0:30:33and a length - 8,000km long.
0:30:38 > 0:30:44Cook's instructions were to sail further south in the Pacific than any man had ever gone before -
0:30:44 > 0:30:4940 degrees latitude - in search of the Great Southern Continent.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55And so the Endeavour's great adventure into the unknown began.
0:30:56 > 0:31:03Overnight, the mission was transformed from a scientific field trip into a voyage of discovery.
0:31:03 > 0:31:10Cook had been given a second chance, one that would stretch his skills to the limit.
0:31:10 > 0:31:16He was about to be really tested for the first time in his life -
0:31:16 > 0:31:19sailing into virgin seas.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24Cook would need all his skills as a navigator and leader
0:31:24 > 0:31:29to sail his small wooden ship and her crew into the unknown.
0:31:29 > 0:31:33What really fascinates me is how Cook navigated.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38He crossed thousands of kilometres across the Pacific that had never been charted.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42He only had very, very basic navigational instruments.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46He had no accurate charts, no land masses to get sights from,
0:31:46 > 0:31:52no accurate way of measuring distance. It would have been a huge challenge.
0:31:52 > 0:31:59These days on long passages, I've got a GPS, like many people, a very simple satellite receiver.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03It takes in satellite signals and tells me where I am.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07I'm reading it now. "Ready to navigate. Accuracy three metres."
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Cook wouldn't have had anything like this.
0:32:12 > 0:32:19But what Cook did have was his fascination with astronomy, a hobby that would now serve him well.
0:32:19 > 0:32:25Cook measured the movement of the sun, the moon and the stars with a sextant
0:32:25 > 0:32:31and compared his readings with tables of lunar predictions.
0:32:31 > 0:32:38With some complex calculations, he came up with an incredibly accurate reading for his longitude -
0:32:38 > 0:32:40the ship's position east/west.
0:32:40 > 0:32:47Cook was one of the first sailors ever to determine a ship's location with such pinpoint accuracy.
0:32:50 > 0:32:56Cook kept his course, sailing ever further south in search of the Great Southern Continent.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00The crew's eyes remained fixed on the horizon.
0:33:00 > 0:33:07There was an occasional false alarm when cloud formations were mistaken for land.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12After three weeks of sailing south, the ship reached 40 degrees.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15There was no sign of Terra Australis Incognita.
0:33:19 > 0:33:26With Cook's experience of the sea, he could tell from the swell of the ocean and the trend of the currents
0:33:26 > 0:33:30that there was no great land mass anywhere nearby.
0:33:34 > 0:33:42Cook's orders told him that if he couldn't find the continent at 40 degrees south,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44he was to sail west instead.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49So the Endeavour changed course. For a month, she sailed west.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53Cook offered a gallon of rum to the first person to sight the coast.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57Still the continent stubbornly refused to appear.
0:34:00 > 0:34:05Then, on the 6th of October 1769, at two o'clock in the afternoon,
0:34:05 > 0:34:11an excited voice shouted out the words that everyone had been longing to hear...
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Land ahoy! Land ahoy!
0:34:26 > 0:34:31Land had been sighted, and a single substantial land mass at that.
0:34:31 > 0:34:37It seemed that Cook had at last made one of the greatest discoveries in history.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40He'd found the Great Southern Continent!
0:34:40 > 0:34:44He went ashore to explore this promising new land.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48This land is agreeable beyond description
0:34:48 > 0:34:54and, with proper cultivation, might be rendered a kind of second paradise.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58The hills are covered with beautiful flowering shrubs,
0:34:58 > 0:35:02intermingled with a sort of tall and stately palms
0:35:02 > 0:35:06which fill the air with a most fragrant perfume.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09To the continent!
0:35:09 > 0:35:14Joseph Banks was swept by the romance of the discovery.
0:35:15 > 0:35:22Much difference of opinion and many conjectures about islands, rivers, inlets, etc,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25but all hands seem to agree
0:35:25 > 0:35:29that this is certainly the continent we are in search of.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37Cook began to fully investigate this eastern coastline,
0:35:37 > 0:35:42sailing north, painstakingly charting the unknown land as he went.
0:35:42 > 0:35:47As Cook sailed the northern tip of the land and down its west coast,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50he realised he was following a stretch of coastline
0:35:50 > 0:35:55that had been explored and charted before - 130 years earlier.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59You can see it - this little squiggle in the South Pacific.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03It was speculated that could have been part of the Great Southern Continent.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Seemed that Cook had done it. He'd found the Holy Grail.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13At last, success was in Cook's grasp.
0:36:13 > 0:36:20But as the Endeavour charted more of the coastline, Cook was to be sorely disappointed.
0:36:20 > 0:36:27The Endeavour eventually reached a stretch of water which Cook christened Queen Charlotte Sound.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33He anchored and began to explore the surrounding countryside.
0:36:35 > 0:36:38When Cook was a boy in Yorkshire,
0:36:38 > 0:36:44he grew up in the shadow of Roseberry Topping, a large hill that he climbed all the time -
0:36:44 > 0:36:50an entirely natural thing for kids and explorers to do - and the habit never left him.
0:36:50 > 0:36:57Sure enough, when he arrived at Queen Charlotte Sound, he went up a hill to have a look.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01And what he saw... was just extraordinary.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07There was a large stretch of water
0:37:07 > 0:37:11between the land he'd just sailed around and him.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16Which meant it wasn't a continent at all. It was just an island.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20In fact, Cook had become the first European to sail around
0:37:20 > 0:37:24the land we now know as the North Island of New Zealand.
0:37:24 > 0:37:32He was about to discover its South Island. But these two small islands weren't the great rich continent
0:37:32 > 0:37:34that he'd been in search of.
0:37:34 > 0:37:41This country, which before now was thought to be part of the imaginary southern continent,
0:37:41 > 0:37:48consists of two large islands. As to a southern continent, I do not believe any such thing exists.
0:37:48 > 0:37:55Cook had sailed across the part of the Pacific where the Great Southern Continent was supposed to be,
0:37:55 > 0:38:00and it wasn't there. The dream of the great continent was in tatters.
0:38:00 > 0:38:05Cook knew it would have been a lot better if he HAD found the continent
0:38:05 > 0:38:11rather than proved it wasn't there. After all, his masters desperately wanted it to exist.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19Yet again, the promise of success had been snatched from Cook's grasp.
0:38:21 > 0:38:28The discovery of the Great Southern Continent would have made Cook's name, but he was not to be defeated.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32He may not have found the continent,
0:38:32 > 0:38:39but Cook was determined to seize victory and discover other unknown lands.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42He made a remarkable decision.
0:38:42 > 0:38:48Cook knew that to the north-west of New Zealand was a vast land that had yet to be fully explored.
0:38:48 > 0:38:54Even though the Dutch had surveyed the north, west and south coasts,
0:38:54 > 0:38:59the vast Eastern coast had never even been seen by Europeans.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01It was called New Holland
0:39:01 > 0:39:07and Cook proposed that they survey the whole length of it to its northernmost point
0:39:07 > 0:39:10and only then would they sail home via the East Indies.
0:39:10 > 0:39:14It was an extraordinary proposal, over and above the call of duty.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Something in Cook had been awoken,
0:39:26 > 0:39:29a hunger that would drive him into the history books.
0:39:29 > 0:39:34He was now gripped by a desire to explore and discover.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38And that's exactly how it happens, it can't be denied, it's so powerful.
0:39:38 > 0:39:44It happened to me when I was 17, diving at 30m for the very first time on a small wreck.
0:39:44 > 0:39:50I just knew that this was all I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54I was just so happy I'd left school, so happy I hadn't gone to college
0:39:54 > 0:39:58and I just wanted to get out and explore.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02I reckon something like that happened to Cook at this time.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10Cook sailed the Endeavour west, again venturing into the unknown.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15Then, 20 days after leaving New Zealand,
0:40:15 > 0:40:21the east coast of New Holland was seen by European eyes for the first time.
0:40:30 > 0:40:36On the 29th of April 1770, nearly two years after leaving Britain,
0:40:36 > 0:40:38Endeavour sailed into this bay.
0:40:38 > 0:40:44Cook and his crew came ashore and stepped onto these very rocks
0:40:44 > 0:40:51and became the first Europeans ever to land on the east coast of New Holland - Australia!
0:40:53 > 0:40:59Cook might not have discovered Australia, but he was the first to chart its huge east coast,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02completing the map of the country.
0:41:02 > 0:41:08And he was the first to claim this vast, rich land for Britain.
0:41:08 > 0:41:14What must it have been like for the indigenous people here to have seen Cook and his men arrive?
0:41:14 > 0:41:19It would have been like seeing a UFO for the first time -
0:41:19 > 0:41:22Unidentified FLOATING Object!
0:41:22 > 0:41:25It came through the heads
0:41:25 > 0:41:33and from its inside, these strange ghost-coloured people would have came out with coloured clothes on, skins,
0:41:33 > 0:41:38and sand-coloured faces, carrying these strange implements
0:41:38 > 0:41:44like a funny shaped spear. It would have been awe-inspiring to them.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48What did Cook think of the local people when he first got...?
0:41:48 > 0:41:52I think Cook had some very enlightened views.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57He started asking questions. He noticed all these strange animals
0:41:57 > 0:42:00and was asking the Guugu Yimithirr, "What's that?"
0:42:00 > 0:42:02He saw this animal...
0:42:02 > 0:42:10and the Guugu Yimithirr said...looked at the kangaroo and the Guugu Yimithirr turned around and said,
0:42:10 > 0:42:16"I don't know. Be more specific. Be more specific." So they called this animal a kangaroo,
0:42:16 > 0:42:23but in the language of the Guugu Yimithirr, kangaroo meant "I don't know"!
0:42:23 > 0:42:25Classic misunderstanding!
0:42:31 > 0:42:35But it wasn't only new people that Cook and his crew found in Australia.
0:42:35 > 0:42:42Banks and his team soon found huge numbers of important specimens of flora and fauna
0:42:42 > 0:42:44totally unknown in Europe.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51The great quantity of new plants Mr Banks collected in this place
0:42:51 > 0:42:54occasioned my giving it the name of...
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Botanist Harbour? Botanist Bay?
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Botany Bay!
0:43:02 > 0:43:08Doug Benson, a local botanist, has studied Banks's work on board the Endeavour.
0:43:09 > 0:43:15- What did he collect here at Botany Bay?- He collected at least 130 species,
0:43:15 > 0:43:19including this Banksia Serrata, this Old Man Banksia,
0:43:19 > 0:43:25which, unfortunately because it's winter hasn't got its pale yellow flowers.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29- But it's a lovely plant.- It's a beautiful looking tree.
0:43:29 > 0:43:36- How much collecting did he do on the whole voyage?- He collected something like 30,000 specimens.
0:43:36 > 0:43:41But that includes plants, birds, insects, fish and so on.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44What would you say was his contribution to science?
0:43:44 > 0:43:49I think he gets botany going. He really provides this drive.
0:43:49 > 0:43:54He is the most influential botanical figure,
0:43:54 > 0:43:58probably in Australia's early history.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02As a botanist myself, it's rather exciting
0:44:02 > 0:44:09to see that botany, er... features so strongly in the early history of Australia.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12It was this land that Cook claimed for Britain,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15an act that was to change the course of history.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Though Cook's actions were to make his name,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22their legacy may not have been in tune with his liberal thinking.
0:44:22 > 0:44:27Of course, Cook is seen as being the father of modern Australia.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31But he played no part in the colonising of this land.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36It was Joseph Banks' idea, nine years after Cook's death,
0:44:36 > 0:44:40that Botany Bay should be the home of a penal colony.
0:44:40 > 0:44:45The British became the first European nation to settle this land.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49And they sent cargo after cargo of convicts.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52Australia would never be the same again.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57The indigenous people round here, those people had a structure.
0:44:57 > 0:45:03They already had a political system, a social system already set up.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06They had education for their children.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10They had a 40,000-year structure of living here.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13They knew what to do with the land.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15But in our perspective, not yours.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19If that structure was so successful for 40,000 years,
0:45:19 > 0:45:24how is it it couldn't resist the structure of the incoming Europeans?
0:45:24 > 0:45:29You were the most powerful group of people on Earth at that particular point in time.
0:45:29 > 0:45:34You had better ships, you knew the currents and navigation.
0:45:34 > 0:45:40You had the weapon, the gun - that funny shaped spear that made a great noise and killed birds and animals.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45My people would have said, "What the hell's that?!"
0:45:45 > 0:45:50But you also came with your invisible luggage - the attitudes and values.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54You also brought racism to this country.
0:46:02 > 0:46:08On the 6th of May 1770, the Endeavour sailed further north up the coast.
0:46:08 > 0:46:14She'd been away from home for nearly two years and had travelled to the other side of the world.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20Surely Cook had now proved his worth.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23He might not have found the Great Southern Continent,
0:46:23 > 0:46:29but his ship was loaded with discoveries that would change our understanding of the world for ever.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33Maps of new lands, astronomical readings
0:46:33 > 0:46:37and thousands of botanical specimens.
0:46:43 > 0:46:47But, unknown to Cook, ruin was lurking beneath the waves.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51He had no way of knowing it,
0:46:51 > 0:46:57but he was sailing towards some of the most treacherous shallows on the planet.
0:47:00 > 0:47:05Ahead of him lay the vastness of the Great Barrier Reef.
0:47:06 > 0:47:13This reef stretches for a massive 1,900 kilometres along the east coast of Australia.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18It's so big, you can see it from space.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23And for a wooden, 18th-century sailing ship,
0:47:23 > 0:47:25it was a disaster waiting to happen.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49It's beautiful down here,
0:47:49 > 0:47:55one of the most spectacular dives anywhere on the planet.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57But this beauty belies great danger.
0:47:57 > 0:48:00The coral is made up of limestone.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03It's hard as rock and razor sharp.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10And if you look here...
0:48:12 > 0:48:15..you can see how close the reef lies to the surface.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21In fact, at low tide, it's virtually at the surface.
0:48:23 > 0:48:28These days, modern ships have sonar to warn them of shallow water.
0:48:31 > 0:48:36But all Cook had was his eyesight and a weighted rope.
0:48:38 > 0:48:42You could imagine what it would be like to try to see this from above.
0:48:42 > 0:48:45Especially at night.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48It would have been virtually impossible.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02At 11 o'clock in the evening of 10th of June 1770,
0:49:02 > 0:49:07Cook was asleep in bed as the Endeavour made her way slowly northwards.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12Success appeared finally to be within his grasp.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14CRASHING
0:49:20 > 0:49:26The Endeavour had crashed into the Great Barrier Reef, bringing her to a sudden halt.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31Scarce were we warm in our beds when we were called up with alarming news
0:49:31 > 0:49:38of the ship being fast ashore upon a rock, which she convinced us of by beating violently against the rocks.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41Our situation now became greatly alarming.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54The reef had punctured a hole...
0:49:56 > 0:49:58right in the hull of the ship.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01Water was pouring in.
0:50:03 > 0:50:10But the worst problem was that the ship was pinned onto the reef and wouldn't budge.
0:50:10 > 0:50:15Unless Cook could get the ship off, it would be wrecked
0:50:15 > 0:50:18and the men would be drowned
0:50:18 > 0:50:22because none of them could swim.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28The only way Cook could get enough water to float Endeavour
0:50:28 > 0:50:31was to wait for high tide.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36In order to stand any chance of saving his ship and her crew,
0:50:36 > 0:50:41Cook needed to make her as light as possible before the tide rose again.
0:50:41 > 0:50:47As day dawned, Cook ordered 50 tons of heavy material to be thrown overboard.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Everything from cannons to ballast and barrels.
0:50:53 > 0:50:59As the day drew on, Cook knew he'd done all he feasibly could to save the ship.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03All he could do now was sit and wait for high tide,
0:51:03 > 0:51:10hoping and praying that the ship was now light enough to be lifted free from the reef.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14As the tide rose slowly, the men waited with bated breath.
0:51:14 > 0:51:20The Endeavour gradually, inch by inch, was lifted from the coral.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25She was afloat, but her troubles were far from over.
0:51:30 > 0:51:35At 9 o'clock, the ship was righted and the leak gained considerably.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38This was an alarming, and I may say, terrible circumstance
0:51:38 > 0:51:42and threatened immediate destruction as soon as the ship was afloat.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50By now, the water in the hold was over a metre deep.
0:51:50 > 0:51:56Even frantically manning three pumps couldn't hold the water back.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00Cook just had to find a way of plugging that hole.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04Cook ordered his men to take an old sail and sew straw to it
0:52:04 > 0:52:08before covering the straw with dung to make the sail sticky.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12This was then tied to a rope, thrown overboard
0:52:12 > 0:52:16and carefully manoeuvred into place over the leak.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21The water pressure then forced it onto the hole like a giant plug.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23It would do the job...for now.
0:52:27 > 0:52:32The water was kept back long enough for the Endeavour to limp into a bay for repair.
0:52:32 > 0:52:37But now Cook was trapped by the perils of the Barrier Reef.
0:52:38 > 0:52:45Cook was really up against it. He had a jury-rigged repair. What's it like to navigate round there?
0:52:45 > 0:52:50Even today, with all our sophisticated electronic equipment,
0:52:50 > 0:52:56we still have to navigate through the Great Barrier Reef with extreme caution.
0:52:56 > 0:53:03There's a saying, there's two types of skipper - those who have hit the reef and those who will.
0:53:03 > 0:53:09If you drop your guard, you could be in serious trouble.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13- It's unforgiving out there.- What about you, have you hit it?
0:53:13 > 0:53:17A long time ago, yes. I was against the tides
0:53:17 > 0:53:22and, fortunately enough, we had a winch on the afterdeck of the vessel,
0:53:22 > 0:53:29we were close to shore so we managed to wind this wire round a coconut tree to pull us off.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33But poor Jimmy - I don't think he had those facilities.
0:53:33 > 0:53:38All Cook did have at his disposal were his formidable skills as a navigator.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42He knew that to return home, he had to find a way
0:53:42 > 0:53:49through the treacherous reef that hemmed him in and stretched as far as the eye could see.
0:53:49 > 0:53:54To get through would take all of Cook's ingenuity,
0:53:54 > 0:53:56and here's what he came up with.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01These waves over here mean that the reef comes very close to the surface,
0:54:01 > 0:54:07making the water really shallow. Cook needed to find a place where there were no breaking waves
0:54:07 > 0:54:12because that would mean deeper water and maybe a gap that he could get Endeavour through.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20Cook eventually spotted a gap in the reef and decided to sail through.
0:54:20 > 0:54:26He had no choice. It was that or be trapped within the reef for ever.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29This was an incredibly risky manoeuvre.
0:54:29 > 0:54:35We're picking our way through now on this big modern boat with two whopping great engines.
0:54:35 > 0:54:40The Endeavour was a huge wooden ship with sail power only, no engines.
0:54:40 > 0:54:46She was at the mercy of the winds, the tide and the current. Cook would have to pick his time and go for it.
0:54:53 > 0:54:58With great skill and daring, Cook made it through the reef.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09The Endeavour could now continue her journey home.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15For 11 months, she sailed onward heading from New South Wales
0:55:15 > 0:55:22to the East Indies, round the southern tip of Africa and then north towards Europe.
0:55:23 > 0:55:29Finally, on the 12th of July 1771, she anchored at Deal in Kent
0:55:29 > 0:55:31after three years at sea.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36It had been a truly historic expedition.
0:55:37 > 0:55:44Cook had become the first man ever to circumnavigate the world in a lone ship, a phenomenal achievement.
0:55:44 > 0:55:49If that wasn't enough, he hadn't lost a single man to scurvy -
0:55:49 > 0:55:51an unheard-of record.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55He had joined the ranks of the few who had discovered new lands
0:55:55 > 0:55:59and he had claimed a new country, Australia, for Britain.
0:55:59 > 0:56:05At last, Cook's name was made. The Admiralty recognised his huge talents
0:56:05 > 0:56:09and, finally, promoted him to the rank of captain.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12Cook was now a hero.
0:56:14 > 0:56:19Even the original scientific mission proved to be a resounding success.
0:56:20 > 0:56:25Despite Cook's misgivings, his results would turn out to be vital.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29In 1771, the astronomer Thomas Hornsby took five measurements
0:56:29 > 0:56:35from various locations around the world, including Tahiti, and averaged them out.
0:56:35 > 0:56:41Cook's measurements were essential to allow Hornsby to calculate the distance of the Earth from the sun.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45The result was astonishingly accurate.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49It came up with a figure of 151 million kilometres.
0:56:49 > 0:56:56Incredibly close to today's accepted figure of 150 million kilometres from the Earth to the sun.
0:56:56 > 0:57:01This became the yardstick for measuring distance in the solar system.
0:57:02 > 0:57:07And, as a voyage of discovery, the expedition had been incredibly successful.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09Cook had found 40 new islands.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13He'd discovered that New Zealand was in fact two islands
0:57:13 > 0:57:18and he'd mapped the east coast of Australia, claiming it for Britain.
0:57:18 > 0:57:25Cook's voyage of discovery pretty much proved that the Great Southern Continent was a fantasy
0:57:25 > 0:57:27and, crucially, he rewrote the map of the world.
0:57:27 > 0:57:33These achievements were only possible because of Cook's particular style of leadership.
0:57:33 > 0:57:38As one of his colleagues wrote, "He was cool and deliberate in judging,
0:57:38 > 0:57:44"active in executing, unsubdued by difficulties and disappointments,
0:57:44 > 0:57:48"mild, just and exact in discipline.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51"He was a father to his people."
0:57:51 > 0:57:56Cook would go on to make two more extraordinary voyages.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00But it was this first journey aboard Endeavour that would make his name.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05By the time of his death in 1779, Cook had become a legend.
0:58:05 > 0:58:09He'd explored more of the planet than anyone else in history
0:58:09 > 0:58:15and, for me, this naval nobody became one of the greatest explorers of all time.
0:58:20 > 0:58:22# Captain Cook had a sailing ship
0:58:22 > 0:58:23# Packet ship
0:58:23 > 0:58:26# Sailing on a cruising trip In the South Pacific
0:58:26 > 0:58:30# Cook found Venus through his glass Packet ship
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# The men found Venus in the grass In the South Pacific
0:58:33 > 0:58:37# Then they hits a coral reef Packet ship
0:58:37 > 0:58:40# Caused a spot of grief In the South Pacific
0:58:40 > 0:58:46# Sailed back to the old country Packet ship... #
0:58:57 > 0:58:58What do you think of that?!