The 1773–1774 Cook expedition’s second voyage through the South Pacific

Record summary

James Cook’s second voyage used chronometers and systematic observations while searching for a southern continent, visiting Tahiti, Tonga and New Zealand and crossing high southern latitudes. Its journals include astronomical sightings, ice, weather, marine phenomena and reports of islands or land that proved difficult to identify. The expedition matters as a controlled comparison for evaluating claims that early Pacific navigators saw anomalous objects: many apparent mysteries can be tested against navigation and environmental data. The records remain mediated by official publication, ship logs and multiple observers.