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Ostensibly James Cook's third and final voyage was to return Omai, a young man from Raiatea to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage. HMS ''Resolution'', to be commanded by Cook, and HMS ''Discovery'', commanded by Charles Clerke, were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth in 1776. The ships travelled to Cape Town by way of Tenerife then on to New Zealand. Omai was returned to his homeland and the ships sailed onwards, discovering the Hawaiian Archipelago, before reaching the Pacific coast of North America. The two charted the west coast of the continent and passed through the Bering Strait when they were stopped by ice from sailing either east or west. The vessels returned to the Pacific and called briefly at the Aleutians before retiring towards Hawaii for the winter. When they approached Hawaii they were met with an unexpectedly warm welcome which became tumultuous as they finally landed at Kealakekua Bay, on 'Hawaii Island' during the ''Makahiki'', a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the Polynesian god Lono. After a time during which Cook, and his crew were feted, the atmosphere changed and Cook moved away from the island to continue his quest of discovery. He soon suffered damage to his ship and had to turn back. On his return, conflict arose which resulted in Cook's death. Cook's remains were taken away by the Hawaiians but some were returned to be buried at sea by his crew. The command of the expedition was assumed by Charles Clerke who tried in vain to find the passage before his own death. Under the command of John Gore the crews returned to a subdued London in October 1780. ==Conception== Principally, the purpose of the voyage was an attempt to discover the famed Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific around the top of North America. Cook's orders from the Admiralty were driven by a 1745 Act which, when extended in 1775, promised a £20,000 prize for whoever discovered the passage. Initially the Admiralty had wanted Charles Clerke to lead the expedition, with Cook, who was in retirement following his exploits in the Pacific, acting as a consultant. However, Cook had researched Bering's expeditions, and the Admiralty ultimately placed their faith in the veteran explorer to lead with Clerke accompanying him. The arrangement was to make a two pronged attack, Cook moving from the Bering Strait in the north Pacific with Richard Pickersgill in the frigate ''Lyon'' taking the Atlantic approach. They planned to rendezvous in the summer of 1778. In August 1773 Omai, a young Ra'iatean man, embarked from Huahine, travelling to Europe on ''Adventure'', commanded by Tobias Furneaux who had touched at Tahiti as part of James Cook's second voyage of discovery in the Pacific. He arrived in London in October 1774 and was introduced into society by the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks and became a favourite curiosity in London. Ostensibly, the third voyage was planned to return Omai to Tahiti; this is what the general public believed. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Third voyage of James Cook」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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