How did Captain Cook explore the Pacific Ocean?

Ancient Greek scholars had speculated that the southern hemisphere, like the northern hemisphere, should have a symmetrical continent, like a plumb sinker at the bottom of a tumbler, to keep the earth from falling. Ancient Asians said that there were "** countries" and "daughter countries" in the distant South China Sea. Since the 15th century, many explorers have crossed the Pacific Ocean again and again, discovering many small islands or archipelagos, but they have missed the southern continent, which is more than 2 3 times the area of Europe, and at the same time, it has also left many ambiguous and contradictory reports of ocean exploration to future generations.

The person who clarified the legacy of the "Great Geographical Discovery" and made great contributions to marine science was the famous British marine explorer James Cook in the 18th century, known as "Captain Cook".

Born in England in 1728 into a poor family, Cook worked on coal carriers as a young man and served in the Royal Navy after 1756. Two years later, Cook was commissioned on an expedition to the St. Lawrence River Basin in North America, where he mapped the coastline of many regions and carried out detailed surveys of the east coast of the North American continent, earning him a reputation as a preeminent "chartographer".

Subsequently, Cook wrote an application to the Royal Navy requesting a dedicated maritime expedition. His request was met. Soon Cook commanded the schooner Grenville to Newfoundland to survey the coastal zone there.

Just as Cook prepares to survey the Arctic seas, a new appointment comes his head, one that has decided that Cook will make marine exploration his lifelong career.

On August 25, 1768, the expedition ship Endeavour, under the command of Captain Cook, set sail from Plymouth Harbour in England with dozens of scientists on board. The surface mission of this expedition was to conduct astronomical observations on the island of Tahiti in the South Pacific, but in fact, it was ordered by the British to go to 40 degrees south latitude to find the magical "southern continent".

When they arrived in Tahiti, it was the summer of 1769. After completing the scientific activity of observing the transit of Venus, Cook began the real mission of the voyage. Autumn in the South Pacific is a very harsh climate.

Cook sailed the Endeavour to 40 degrees south latitude and sailed the ocean for a month, but there was still a vast sea in front of him, and there was no shadow of land. Cook then turned west, battling the wind and waves for nearly two months, and accidentally discovered the island of New Zealand.

They later reached the island of Kergren and the Crozet Islands, the only landmass that Cook saw south of 40 degrees south latitude. Then they headed east towards Australia. Rare winds and fog at sea caused the "Resolve" and "Adventure" to lose contact.