'Having received my commission, which was dated the S5th of May, I768, I went on board on the 7th, hoisted the pennant, and took charge of the sliip, which then lay in the basin in Deptford Yard.' - this is the beginning of the journal in which the legendary captain and discoverer of Australia and New Zealand described his adventures. The book contains the descriptions of the three voyages of Captain Cook, which resulted in the complete round-the-world expedition. Captain and his team were the first Europeans to meet the indigenous people of Australia and Oceania. Captain Cook took a great interest in the locals' style of life and customs. Thus, the book doesn't just present an account of one of the most daring sea expeditions in history but also impressions of the pioneering encounter of seamen with the people of unknown races.

James Cook (1728 - 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, British Royal Navy captain, and a discoverer of New Zealand and Australia. He was a strong personality, combining seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, and an ability to lead men in adverse conditions. In his three voyages, Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas and mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in great detail, not previously charted by Western explorers.