The Life of Captain James Cook, the Circumnavigator

by Arthur Kitson

ACCIDENT TO HAND.

After getting the guns and stores on board, and fitting the ship for her new duties, they left St. John's on 4th July for the north. A base line was laid out at Noddy's Harbour, and the latitude of Cape Norman was found to be 51 degrees 39 minutes North; soundings were taken every mile. On 3rd August Cook left the ship in the cutter to continue his work, but having met with a nasty accident he had to return on the 6th. It seems he had a large powder horn in his hand, when, by some means not stated, the powder ignited, and the horn "was blown up and burst in his hand, which shattered it in a terrible manner, and one of the people which was hard by suffered greatly by the same accident." The Grenville left at once for Noddy's Harbour, where there was a French ship which had a doctor on board, arriving there at eleven o'clock, was able to secure some sort of medical assistance, though probably in the eye of a modern medical man, of a very rough nature. At that time surgery, especially on board ship, was very heroic; a glass of spirits the only anodyne, and boiling pitch the most reliable styptic.

In reference to this accident the Lords of the Admiralty wrote to Lord Halifax, quoting a letter they had received from Captain Pallisser, dated 14th November 1764:

"Mr. Cook, the surveyor, has returned. The accident to him was not so bad as it was represented. Nor had it interrupted his survey so much as he (Captain Pallisser) expected. He continued on the coast as long as the season would permit, and has executed his survey in a manner which, he has no doubt, will be satisfactory to their Lordships. I have ordered him to proceed to Woolwich to refit his vessel for the next season, and to lay before the Board, Draughts of his surveys with all his remarks and observations that may be useful to Trade and Navigation in those parts."

Pallisser did not see Cook till some time after the accident, when the worst was over, and it is quite in keeping with Cook's character to minimise his sufferings, and to insist on the work being kept going as far as possible. The surgeon, Mr. Samwell, relates that after the murder at Owhyee they were enabled to identify his hand by the scar which he describes as "dividing the thumb from the fingers the whole length of the metacarpal bones." Whilst Cook was laid up with his hand, and Mr. Parker was engaged with the survey, some of the men were employed brewing, and either the brew was stronger than usual or, the officer's eye being off them, they indulged too freely, for on 20th August it is noted that three men were confined to the deck for drunkenness and mutinous conduct, and the next day the ringleader was punished by being made to "run the Gantelope."

Early in September, being then in the Bay of St. Genevieve, Cook went ashore for six days and ran roughly the course of several small rivers, noting the chief landmarks, and then on their way back to St. John's, off Point Ferrol, their small boat was dashed to pieces on a ledge of rock, and its occupants were saved with great difficulty by the cutter which by great good fortune happened to be near at the time. They returned to England for the winter, and crossing the Banks, a series of soundings were made and the nature of the bottom carefully noted.

When Cook arrived at Woolwich, he pointed out to their Lordships that the completion of his charts would entail his being absent from his ship, and he would be unable to supervise everything that had to be done on board, he therefore suggested that she should be sent to Deptford yard. This was at once agreed to, and Cook was able to devote his whole time to his charts. His own work had to be supplemented by the observations made by six men-of-war stationed in Newfoundland waters as their commanding officers had received special instructions to take ample soundings and careful observations, and to make charts which were to be sent to Captain Pallisser, who was informed that he would be held responsible if these orders were not carried out in their entirety. It is very certain that an order so emphatically enforced on his notice would not be permitted to remain a dead letter.

GRENVILLE'S RIG CHANGED.

Whilst at Deptford, the rig of the Grenville was altered from schooner to brig, as Cook thought that her sailing qualities would be improved by the change, and she also received a thorough overhaul. In the previous year her armament had been supplied from the flagship, and of course had to be returned, so now she was established with "6 swivel guns, 12 Musquets, and powder and shot" of her own, and her crew was augmented to twenty, including a midshipman and a carpenter's mate, paid as on board a sixth rate. Isaac Smith, Mrs. Cook's cousin, afterwards Admiral, who lived with her at Clapham, was the midshipman. On 25th March 1765 the Grenville again left for Newfoundland, arriving at St. Lawrence Harbour on 2nd June to recommence her work. On 14th July, whilst "moored in a bay by Great Garnish, we picked up two men who had been lost in the woods for near a month. They came from Barin, intending to go to St. Lawrence Harbour, and were almost perishing for want of subsistence." Going into Long Harbour, 23rd July, the Grenville ran on a rock and remained so fast that she had to be unloaded before she could be floated off the next day, when she was found to have suffered considerable damage to her forefoot.

From the log of the Grenville it appears that the survey was not carried out continuously, and this may be accounted for by the fact that the Governor was being called upon to settle disputes with the French fishermen, who were only too apt to place the broadest construction on the treaty rights accorded to them. It is very possible that Cook, during this year, rendered assistance to Captains Debbieg and Bassett, engineers, who were engaged in surveying important points and harbours with a view to fortification, and Pallisser had been instructed to give them every help. There is no positive record that Cook did assist, but his ship was several times engaged near where they were at work, and it seems very reasonable to suppose that he worked with them, especially as such work might be very important to both parties.