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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TheNickelGuy, post: 8181161, member: 20201&quot;]<font size="6"><b>1970 Captain James Cook</b></font></p><p><font size="6"><b>State Savings Bank of Victoria Medal</b></font></p><p>Gilt 33mm</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1430364[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;[ATTACH=full]1430365[/ATTACH]</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Captain James Cook 1728 - 1779 was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy, commander of HM Bark Endeavour for the first of three Pacific voyages.</p><p><br /></p><p>Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.</p><p>Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe.</p><p>He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail and on a scale not previously achieved.</p><p>As he progressed on his voyages of discovery he surveyed and named features, and recorded islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time.</p><p>He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage and an ability to lead men in adverse conditions.</p><p>Cook&#039;s contributions to knowledge were internationally recognized during his lifetime. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1430366[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In 1779, while the American colonies were fighting Britain for their independence, Benjamin Franklin wrote to captains of colonial warships at sea, recommending that if they came into contact with Cook&#039;s vessel, they were to</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;not consider her an enemy, nor suffer any plunder to be made of the effects contained in her, nor obstruct her immediate return to England by detaining her or sending her into any other part of Europe or to America; but that you treat the said Captain Cook and his people with all civility and kindness as common friends to mankind.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>Unknown to Franklin, Cook was already attacked and killed when this &quot;passport&quot; was written.</p><p>In 1779 during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific while attempting to kidnap Kalaniopuu, a Hawaiian chief, in order to reclaim a cutter stolen from one of his ships. He left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge which was to influence his successors well into the 20th century, and numerous memorials worldwide have been dedicated to him.</p><p><br /></p><p>Cook circled the globe on two voyages with the same goat, the first recorded animal to circle the globe.</p><p>William Bligh sailed with and was under Cook&#039;s command who later was given command of the famous HMS Bounty. ( Mutiny on the Bounty )</p><p>Cook also witnessed human sacrifices on Tahiti.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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