Captain Cook shot an Aborigine before he even set foot on Australian soil

Captain James Cook shot the first Aborigine to confront him at Botany Bay in April 1770

Captain James Cook shot the first Aborigine to resist his arrival at Sydney’s Botany Bay – before the famed British explorer had had even set foot on Australian soil.

While Cook did not mean to kill the man and barely wounded him, the first contact between black and white people on the east coast of Australia almost 250 years ago was a violent affair.

The facts of that historic encounter 18 years before the arrival of the First Fleet have long been available to scholars but are not taught in schools.

As the nation marks 232 years since European settlement with another Australia Day featuring protests and celebrations this earlier story remains largely unknown. 

Bestselling author Peter FitzSimons was stunned while researching a biography of Cook to learn the legendary navigator had shot an indigenous warrior.

While it was known a member of Cook’s landing party fired upon two Gweagal men on April 29, 1770, that act has not always been attributed to the captain of HMS Endeavour.

FitzSimons relied upon the journals of Cook, botanist Joseph Banks and botanical illustrator Sydney Parkinson to tell the full story in his latest book, James Cook: The Story Behind the Man who Mapped the World.

The prolific biographer said he was shocked by his own ignorance – and that of most Australians – of such a significant piece of Australian history. 

Cook has in recent years been criticised as a British imperialist and there have been objections to any notion he 'discovered' Australia, when Aborigines had occupied the continent for 60,000 years. This statue in St Kilda, Melbourne, was vandalised last year

Cook has in recent years been criticised as a British imperialist and there have been objections to any notion he ‘discovered’ Australia, when Aborigines had occupied the continent for 60,000 years. This statue in St Kilda, Melbourne, was vandalised last year

Bestselling author Peter FitzSimons was stunned while researching a biography of Cook to learn the legendary navigator had shot an indigenous warrior. This engraving from a sketch by illustrator Sydney Parkinson shows two Aborigines who confronted Cook's landing party

Bestselling author Peter FitzSimons was stunned while researching a biography of Cook to learn the legendary navigator had shot an indigenous warrior. This engraving from a sketch by illustrator Sydney Parkinson shows two Aborigines who confronted Cook’s landing party

It is Cook himself who states clearly in his journal he fired three times towards two Aborigines from his landing boat, hitting one of the men in the leg. That shot was fired with a light, non-lethal load and meant only to ‘sting’ and scare

‘I was stunned,’ FitzSimons said of discovering Cook had shot one of the first Aborigines he saw up close.

‘I just said, “You’ve got to be kidding – that cannot be true”. How could that be true when I’ve been reading about Cook all my life and and I’ve never heard it?’ 

‘I spent a lot of time wondering why it is that it’s just unknown.’ 

FitzSimons said he had been asking audiences during promotion of his book whether they knew Cook had shot an Aborigine before he stepped ashore. 

‘I have done it before every audience – “how many of you know this?” – and really not a single hand has gone up,’ he said.

‘It’s not like I’ve discovered it. I haven’t discovered it but it was only known to the absolute cognoscenti.’ 

Academics had even approached FitzSimons after he had given talks to ask if he was sure the story was true.

Cook has in recent years been criticised as a British imperialist and there have been objections to any notion he ‘discovered’ Australia, when Aborigines had occupied the continent for 60,000 years. 

This wooden shield is said to have been dropped by an Aboriginal warrior who was fired upon by Captain Cook at Botany Bay on April 29, 1770. It is held by the British Museum

This wooden shield is said to have been dropped by an Aboriginal warrior who was fired upon by Captain Cook at Botany Bay on April 29, 1770. It is held by the British Museum 

FitzSimons (pictured) believed historians of previous generations had not considered Cook (pictured) shooting an Aborigine to be particularly noteworthy whereas today it would be seen as hugely significant

FitzSimons (pictured) believed historians of previous generations had not considered Cook (pictured) shooting an Aborigine to be particularly noteworthy whereas today it would be seen as hugely significant

But the FitzSimons book is not some revisionist retelling of the first contact between indigenous people and Europeans or a ‘black armband’ view of Australian history. 

It is Cook himself who states clearly in his journal he fired three times towards two Aborigines from his landing boat, hitting one of the men in the leg. 

That shot was fired with a light, non-lethal load and meant only to ‘sting’ and scare.

FitzSimons has reprinted the relevant passages from the journals of Cook, Banks and Parkinson and historians contacted by Daily Mail Australia did not dispute the facts.

‘Cook explicitly states he personally fired the first three shots, the second of these struck the Aboriginal warrior,’ FitzSimons said. 

‘Only after this second shot are spears thrown and Cook states he fired once more. So yes, Cook fired first and drew first blood at the first contact in New South Wales.’

FitzSimons believed historians of previous generations had not considered Cook shooting an Aborigine to be particularly noteworthy whereas today it would be seen as significant. 

The book, which FitzSimons wrote with the help of four researchers, sets out to reveal the ‘real’ James Cook. It promises to show the man behind the myth.

A new book by Peter FitzSimons sets out to reveal the 'real' James Cook. It promises to show the man behind the myth. Pictured is Captain Cook's Memorial at Kurnell on Botany Bay

A new book by Peter FitzSimons sets out to reveal the ‘real’ James Cook. It promises to show the man behind the myth. Pictured is Captain Cook’s Memorial at Kurnell on Botany Bay

How Captain James Cook shot an Aboriginal man – in his own words  

SUNDAY 29th. In the PM winds southerly clear weather with which we stood into the bay and Anchor’d under the South shore about a Mile within the entrance in 6 fathoms water, the south point bearing SE and the north point East. Saw as we came in on both points of the bay Several of the natives and a few hutts, Men, women and children on the south shore abreast of the Ship, to which place I went in the boats in hopes of speaking with them accompaned by Mr Banks Dr Solander and Tupia; as we approached the shore they all made off except two Men who seemd resolved to oppose our landing. As soon as I saw this I orderd the boats to lay upon their oars in order to speake to them but this was to little purpose for neither us not Tupia could understand one word they said. We then threw them some nails beeds [etc] a shore which they took up and seem’d not ill pleased in so much at that I thout that they beckon’d to us to come a shore; but in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us upon which I fired a musket between the two which had no other effect than to make them retire back where bundles of thier darts lay, and one of them took up a stone and threw at us which caused my fireing a second Musquet load with small shott, and altho some of the shott struck the man yet it had no other effect than to make him lay hold of a Shield or target to defend himself. Emmidiatly after this we landed which we had no sooner done than they throw’d two darts at us, this obliged me to fire a third shott soon after which they both made off, but not in such haste but what we might have taken one, but Mr Banks being of opinion that the darts were poisoned, made me cautious how I advanced into the woods.

Source: Journal of James Cook 

‘Captain James Cook is one of the most recognisable figures in Australian history – an almost mythic figure who is often discussed, celebrated, reviled and debated,’ its publisher states.

‘This Yorkshire farm boy would go on to become the foremost mariner, navigator and cartographer of his era, and to personally map a third of the globe.’ 

Cook’s journal records how he shot an indigenous man after his landing party of about 40 men in two boats faced a group of Aborigines including two warriors on the sands of Botany Bay.

‘We then threw them some nails beeds [etc] a shore which they took up and seem’d not ill pleased in so much at that I thout that they beckon’d to us to come a shore…

‘But in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us upon which I fired a musket between the two which had no other effect than to make them retire back where bundles of thier darts lay…

‘And one of them took up a stone and threw at us which caused my fireing a second Musquet load with small shott, and altho some of the shott struck the man yet it had no other effect than to make him lay hold of a Shield or target to defend himself.’

Historians contacted by Daily Mail Australia accepted Cook had fired upon the Aborigines.

While it was known a member of Cook's landing party fired upon two Aborigines at Botany Bay, that act has not always been attributed to the captain of HMS Endeavour. This illustration shows Cook and his landing party ashore at Kurnell

While it was known a member of Cook’s landing party fired upon two Aborigines at Botany Bay, that act has not always been attributed to the captain of HMS Endeavour. This illustration shows Cook and his landing party ashore at Kurnell 

How Peter FitzSimons describes Captain Cook shooting a warrior 

This is an edited extract of Peter FitzSimons recreating Captain Cook’s first encounter with Aborigines at Kurnell as his landing party nears the shore:

The agitation on the shore grows and grows.

Finally Cook decides he must take the matter into his own hands – specifically, a musket. Carefully, he brings it to bear, aiming right between the two men and gently… squeezes the trigger. There is a flash, an acrid puff of smoke, a God almighty roar and in that frozen moment the youngest of the two warriors drops his ‘bundle of [spears], on the rock, at the instant in which he heard the report’, something which appears to bring a sharp rebuke from the older warrior – for the younger man just as quickly regathers them and the two are as they were once more.

Threatening. Blocking. Willing for a fight.

They do more than that, the elder man picks up a stone and hurls it.

As it whistles past Cook’s ear, he comes to a key decision.

If he and his men are not to be received hospitably, voluntarily, it will have to be insisted upon… by force.

Again he brings what he will describe as “a Second Musquet, load with small Shott” to bear and takes careful aim. But this time, instead of aiming it between the warriors, he aims it at the legs of the older warrior who has hurled the rock at him and… … squeezes the trigger.

His intention is not to kill, but to “sting” and so “frighten them into the woods”.

Nevertheless, it is, effectively, a shot that will ring through history, as the commander of the first English troupe – and even troops – to arrive on the Australian continent visits violence on a people who’ve been there for 60,000 years… even before he has set foot on the land.

For again there is a roar, but this time instead of the shot flying harmlessly, it indeed hits the elder man in the legs, bringing up angry red splotches on his black skin. Though stunned, and stung, glaring down at these splotches, still the old warrior and his younger companion stand their ground. 

Source: James Cook by Peter FitzSimons, published by Hachette Australia

Cook author and expert Cliff Thornton of the Captain Cook Society said: ‘In terms of who fired the shots, Cook wrote in his journal that he fired the shots.’ 

Professor John Maynard, chair of Indigenous History at the University of Newcastle, also pointed to Cook as the most reliable source for what happened that day.

‘On Cook’s own evidence Peter FitzSimons is correct,’ Professor Maynard said.

But the story of Captain Cook’s first encounter with Aborigines is not taught in Australian schools.  

A spokesman for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) said: ‘The specific event you reference is not referenced in the Australian Curriculum.’

‘It is state/territory education departments who determine the specific detail of what is taught in their schools.’

‘Information regarding Captain Cook’s journey is available in the Australian Curriculum as an elaboration, where Cook, amongst other explorers, are referenced.’

Cook is given no more prominence as a seafarer in the Australian Curriculum than the Macassans – Indonesian sailors who harvested sea cucumbers in the Kimberley region and Arnhem Land. 

FitzSimons said Cook’s shooting of an Aborigine should be taught in all Australian schools.

This statue of Cook in Sydney's Hyde Park proclaims he 'discovered this territory' in 1770. It was defaced in 2017. Cook was the first European known to reach the east coast of Australia

This statue of Cook in Sydney’s Hyde Park proclaims he ‘discovered this territory’ in 1770. It was defaced in 2017. Cook was the first European known to reach the east coast of Australia 

‘Why is this not taught? Absolutely it’s something that should be taught in school – this is what happened.

‘I am convinced the great weeping wound on the national soul is our cruel indigenous past and the beginning of healing that wound is understanding what happened.’ 

James Cook by Peter FitzSimons is published by Hachette Australia and available now

James Cook by Peter FitzSimons is published by Hachette Australia and available now 

FitzSimons also believed Cook had to be seen in the context of his times.   

‘I said and I believe it and I don’t back off from it: Cook was not an imperialist but he was an instrument of empire,’ he said.

FitzSimons believed it would be easier for a modern audience to understand Cook’s actions if he had been ‘a cruel, vicious bastard’.

‘Cook was not a vicious bastard,’ he said. ‘Cook was a genuinely, basically humane person but that therefore is a commentary on the times. 

‘This is the times in which if your way is blocked by a blackfella on a distant shore, operation 101 is take said musket, put it to your right shoulder, pull the trigger, that’ll clear them. 

‘That’s a commentary on the times. That helps explain the times that they were in.’

Daily Mail Australia asked the Education departments of every state and territory if they taught students that Cook shot an Aborigine before landing at Kurnell. None did.

NSW Education directed inquiries to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA), which cited the Australian Curriculum taught to students in Year Four.

‘The NSW History K–10 Syllabus provides opportunities for students to learn about world navigators,’ a spokeswoman said.

Peter FitzSimons has been asking audiences how it is most Australians don't know Captain Cook shot an Aboriginal warrior before he landed at Kurnell

Peter FitzSimons has been asking audiences how it is most Australians don’t know Captain Cook shot an Aboriginal warrior before he landed at Kurnell

‘In the primary years, students investigate the journey(s) of one early explorer and the impact of their voyages. Captain James Cook is included as an example for study.

‘The syllabus does not include specific details about Captain Cook’s arrival.’

Individual institutions had ‘the flexibility to develop programs of study to meet the needs and interests of students and the local context of their school.’

A Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority spokeswoman said it was up to schools to decide how the curriculum was delivered ‘to suit their particular student cohort.’

‘Levels 3 and 4 covers first contacts between British arrivals and first peoples,’ she said. ‘Levels 9 and 10 gives a more detailed exploration of the settlement of Australia.

‘The curriculum does not go into the detail of specific events.’

Queensland’s Department of Education said it was not responsible for setting curriculum.

It directed inquires to ACARA and the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which referred the matter back to ACARA.

James Cook: The Story Behind the Man who Mapped the World, by Peter FitzSimons, is published by Hachette Australia and available now. 

This wood engraving shows Cook's ship HMS Endeavour run aground on the Great Barrier Reef off what is now Queensland in June 1770

This wood engraving shows Cook’s ship HMS Endeavour run aground on the Great Barrier Reef off what is now Queensland in June 1770 

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