1st Lt. James Cook

Mr. Molyneux, another reef in all the topsails, if you please. All hands to tack ship.

"Mother Carey’s chickens" are what we sailors call storm petrels. I imagine they have some complicated Latin name, too, but I couldn’t tell you what that is. You and Dr. Solander probably know it already, though.

I… I trust the doctor has recovered from his near accident earlier? It would be good for him to see the birds, I think, yes. And they do tend to presage a storm. This gale is certainly going to get worse - we have tacked and reefed topsails, as you can see, but I think soon we will also have to strike the topgallant yards down on deck. 

We have also reefed the topsails - the second ones up, above the courses - which means we have taken in a portion of the sails, gives the wind less canvas to blow on, and keeps her stable. Same with the topgallant yards - the yards above the topsails. If it blows too hard, we will bring them down on deck, to decrease the weight and take some of the strain off.

Mr. Molyneux, another reef in all the topsails, if you please. All hands to tack ship.

"Mother Carey’s chickens" are what we sailors call storm petrels. I imagine they have some complicated Latin name, too, but I couldn’t tell you what that is. You and Dr. Solander probably know it already, though.

I… I trust the doctor has recovered from his near accident earlier? It would be good for him to see the birds, I think, yes. And they do tend to presage a storm. This gale is certainly going to get worse - we have tacked and reefed topsails, as you can see, but I think soon we will also have to strike the topgallant yards down on deck. 

We have also reefed the topsails - the second ones up, above the courses - which means we have taken in a portion of the sails, gives the wind less canvas to blow on, and keeps her stable. Same with the topgallant yards - the yards above the topsails. If it blows too hard, we will bring them down on deck, to decrease the weight and take some of the strain off.

Mr. Molyneux, another reef in all the topsails, if you please. All hands to tack ship.

"Mother Carey’s chickens" are what we sailors call storm petrels. I imagine they have some complicated Latin name, too, but I couldn’t tell you what that is. You and Dr. Solander probably know it already, though.

I… I trust the doctor has recovered from his near accident earlier? It would be good for him to see the birds, I think, yes. And they do tend to presage a storm. This gale is certainly going to get worse - we have tacked and reefed topsails, as you can see, but I think soon we will also have to strike the topgallant yards down on deck. 

We have also reefed the topsails - the second ones up, above the courses - which means we have taken in a portion of the sails, gives the wind less canvas to blow on, and keeps her stable. Same with the topgallant yards - the yards above the topsails. If it blows too hard, we will bring them down on deck, to decrease the weight and take some of the strain off.

Mr. Molyneux, another reef in all the topsails, if you please. All hands to tack ship.

"Mother Carey’s chickens" are what we sailors call storm petrels. I imagine they have some complicated Latin name, too, but I couldn’t tell you what that is. You and Dr. Solander probably know it already, though.

I... I trust the doctor has recovered from his near accident earlier? It would be good for him to see the birds, I think, yes. And they do tend to presage a storm. This gale is certainly going to get worse - we have tacked and reefed topsails, as you can see, but I think soon we will also have to strike the topgallant yards down on deck. 

Mr. Molyneux, another reef in all the topsails, if you please. All hands to tack ship.

"Mother Carey's chickens" are what we sailors call storm petrels. I imagine they have some complicated Latin name, too, but I couldn't tell you what that is. You and Dr. Solander probably know it already, though.

You are not the only gentleman with ten thousand pounds, Joseph. Had you not stepped forward, someone else would have. Someone who would not have then tried to commandeer this voyage for his own personal amusement, treating a King’s ship like his own hired yacht. Yes, she is overcrowded, but do you know why that is? It’s because you, Mr. Banks, insisted that the Admiralty bend over backwards to accommodate you and your entourage. Your servants, your pets, your wretched gentlemen, who, from the day they came aboard, have done nothing but get under my feet and disrupt the proper running of this ship, so that it will be a damned miracle if we even reach Madeira, let alone Otaheite.

You think I’m not taking this voyage seriously just because I let myself have a bit of fun now and then. Just because Solander and I got excited about porpoises, well guess what? we’ve never seen them before. So I’m terribly sorry, lieutenant, that we’re all just some ~blundering landlubbers who aren’t good enough for your vaulted fucking boat, but how bout you acknowledge that you god damn well need us. What, you think you’re going to be able to take the right observations of Venus? I don’t care how good of a navigator you are, you’re not an astronomer, and Charles is important. You think you’ve got the skills and patience to draw every new plant and animal and person we see on the southern continent, then fine, throw Sydney and Alexander overboard, I’m sure they’re very sorry for having gotten under your feet when they felt like they were dying because they haven’t lived exactly the same life that you have. (and don’t think I haven’t noticed you and Sporing talking about watches, you practically like him, if you could be ever considered to like anyone!

You can have fun on this voyage, by all means, but you can have fun without turning my cabin into a wreck-site, without defacing my property and the Admiralty’s, without disturbing my crew and my officers when they are trying to work. You can have all the fun you want, sir, and still show a shred of consideration for the other people around you. Respect? When you start showing other people respect, Mr. Banks, then perhaps you will earn theirs. I would have thought you’d know that, at least, but you’re making it abundantly clear that money by no means makes a gentleman.

I have never questioned the expertise of your scientists, sir, I am sure they are the top minds in their field, though by God I’ve seen little enough evidence of it so far, when Mr. Buchan spends all day inert in his cabin, and Dr. Solander and Mr. Parkinson blithely follow your lead in acting with about as much credibility as young rakes in a bawdy-house. At least Spöring seems to have grasped the very basic fact that this voyage requires respect and co-operation between all elements of the ship’s company. Because you are not the only important ones on this voyage. That “measly sailing crew” that you deride so much are prime hands and officers of His Majesty’s Navy - men as expert in their field as you are in yours. What you all seem utterly ignorant of, as you all wander the decks, is that every task being performed is vital to keeping the ship, and ourselves, afloat. These are the men who will convey you safely from one end of the world to the other, on whom your lives depend. If we should be caught in storms around the Horn, will it be you and Mr. Parkinson who take in our sails, strike our topmasts, and keep us from being swamped by hundred-foot waves? If we should strike an uncharted reef, will it be Dr. Solander who floats us off and repairs our hull? Your knowledge may be vital to the scientific success of our mission, but it is the knowledge of me and my crew that is vital to your survival. And not once, not once, have you shown them the respect that they deserve.

I HAVE NO WORDS — OH MY GOD — NO WORDS. HOW DARE YOU — HOW FUCKIN DARE YOU —

PERHAPS — AND I’M SURE IT’S EASY FOR THIS TO ESCAPE YOUR ~VAULTED AND ~EXPERIENCED KNOWLEDGE — BUT JUST PERHAPS, IF YOU TRIED BEING A LITTLE FRIENDLIER TO STRANGERS, THEY MIGHT BE MORE INCLINED TO LISTEN????? YOU’RE NOT? THE ONLY PERSON ON THIS SHIP??? AND MAYBE THE CREW IS USED TO TAKING ORDERS FROM SHABBY, SHOUTY MEN, BUT BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU THAT EXPERTS AND GENTLEMEN — YES, GENTLEMEN, YOU CRAWLING SCUM, DON’T YOU DARE FORGET THAT YOU ARE TALKING TO THE SON OF A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, A STUDENT OF ETON AND OXFORD, A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY — I DESERVE YOUR RESPECT BY NATURE OF MY VERY PRESENCE HERE GOOD BLOODY GOD

NOW I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOUNG RAKES YOU’RE USED TO HANGING AROUND WITH — APART FROM THE SORT OF ILL-FACED SAILORS I’M VERY GLAD YOU DIDN’T INVITE UPON THIS VOYAGE, BUT WHOSE COMPANY YOU NO DOUBT WOULD RELISH — BUT AS FAR AS KNOWLEDGE SERVES ME, BAWDY-HOUSES RARELY SERVICE MEN WHO ARE TRYING TO CAPTURE SPECIES OF SEA LIFE IN ORDER TO FURTHER SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, AND ALSO?? HOW DARE YOU BERATE MR BUCHAN FOR BEING SEASICK, THAT’S HARDLY HIS FAULT!!! WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT, TELL DORLTON HE SHOULD BE FAIRER-SKINNED?? TELL ME I SHOULD BE LESS TALL SO I CAN FIT IN MY CABIN??? GOD’S WOUNDS, SIR, BUT THAT IS UNFAIR AND UNCALLED-FOR.

WE, MR COOK, ARE GENTLEMEN AND PHILOSOPHERS AND WE DO NOT TAKE ORDERS. WE LISTEN TO FELLOW MEN WHO RESPECT AND WORK WITH US, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING OUR MERE PRESENCE TOOTH AND NAIL, SO IF YOU WANT US TO DO AS YOU SAY, AS YOU SO VERY CLEARLY DESIRE YOUR EVERY WHIM, SEA-RELATED OR OTHERWISE, TO BE FOLLOWED, THEN PERHAPS YOU MIGHT DO US THE COURTESY OF MERELY ASKING BEFORE YOU ASSUME THAT THE SITUATION REQUIRES HARSH WORDS

I DON’T GIVE A DAMN WHO YOUR FATHER WAS, OR WHAT UNIVERSITY YOU DIDN’T BOTHER GRADUATING FROM. I MIGHT BE SCUM TO YOU, SIR, BUT AT LEAST I HAVE THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING THAT WHATEVER MY STATION IN LIFE, I HAVE DAMN WELL EARNED IT ON MY OWN MERITS, I DIDN’T HAVE TO BUY IT WITH TEN THOUSAND BLOODY POUNDS.

AND I MAY BE JUST A LIEUTENANT, BUT I AM STILL THE KING’S REPRESENTATIVE IN THIS SHIP - SO, YES, SIR. YES, AS A MEMBER OF THIS SHIP’S COMPANY, YOU WILL DAMN WELL FOLLOW MY ORDERS WHEN I GIVE YOU THEM. MY CREW AT LEAST HAVE THE WIT TO UNDERSTAND THAT, EVEN IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE CONCEPT. YOU COULD HAVE DONE ME THE COURTESY OF ASKING FOR MY OPINIONS OR MY WISHES BEFORE SIMPLY ASSUMING THAT YOU OWNED THE SHIP. IF YOU HAD TRIED TO WORK WITH ME, I WOULD NEVER HAVE RESORTED TO HARSH WORDS. BUT YOU’VE MADE IT PLAIN THAT YOU DON’T HEAR ANYTHING YOU DON’T WANT TO HEAR, SO I WILL DAMN WELL SHOUT UNTIL YOU DO HEAR ME.

AND DON’T GIVE ME YOUR MELODRAMATICS ABOUT BUCHAN. FOR GOD’S SAKE, THE MAN IS SEASICK, NOT CONSUMPTIVE. HOW THE HELL DID YOU LOT EVER THINK YOU WOULD MANAGE ON A SEA VOYAGE? PHILOSOPHERS? IF YOU AND YOUR GENTLEMEN ARE STUNNING EXAMPLES OF HUMAN INTELLECT, THEN GOD HELP US ALL.