| |
| | James Cook: British Explorer - EnchantedLearning.com |
 | | Cook's first journey lasted from August 26,1768 to July 13, 1771, when he sailed to Tahiti on the Endeavor in order to observe Venus as it passed between the Earth and the Sun (this is called the transit of Venus). |
 | | Cook sailed to New Zealand on October 6,1769, where he and his crew fought with the Maori (the earliest inhabitants of New Zealand) and mapped much of the two major islands (the strait between these two islands is now named Cook Strait) and showed that is was not part of a larger southern continent. |
 | | Cook arrived at Capetown, South Africa, on October 18, 1776, and sailed to the Indian Ocean and on to New Zealand (in early 1777), the Cook Islands, and Tonga. |
| www.enchantedlearning.com /explorers/page/c/cook.shtml (826 words) |
|