James Cook (1770)
One hundred and twenty-five years after Abel Tasman delivered an outline of Australia's northern coast, James Cook's track along the continent's east coast outlined much of the still-missing portion.
So, Cook represents a critical element of the Mapping The North narrative.
However, as a key figure in exploring the world, his track from the Tropic of Capricorn to Torres Strait represents a relatively small piece of a much larger picture.
Many others have written about the man. One might think there is little more to add to an already detailed picture.
However, several different and sometimes divergent James Cooks emerged through my reading about him.
So we have James Cook, along with Arthur Phillip as one of the founders of modern Australia.
At the same time, his three voyages make him a significant figure in world exploration and, arguably, one of the all-time great Englishmen.
At the same time, there is an intriguing Indigenous variant where 'Captain Cook' becomes the first European arrival in areas where the Endeavour never sailed.
Lastly, there is the historian's James Cook, who is distinct from the others as various writers attempt to deliver a rounded portrait of a remarkable man.
While I nod towards other representations, my James Cook emerges as a remarkable man with an uncanny ability to find sponsors and benefactors without alienating them as he moves from one to the next as he moves up the ladder of late 18th-century English society.
