than a biography of Captain James Cook and a chronology of hi s three Pacifi c exploratory voyages. H e o pens with a com prehensive review of th e co mpetition among European nations eager for expansion and Britain's emergence fro m the Seven Years' W ar (175 6-63) as the clea rl y do mi nant naval power. H e describes events that led to Bri tish plans fo r a voyage to Tahiti to observe the transit of the planer Ve nus ac ross the sun o n 3 June 1769. Secret pl ans were also made to search fo r the mys terious southern co ntinent. T he co mm ander, and one of th e as tron omers, of this voyage was Lieutenant James Cook, and his vessel was a 368-ron bark, a broad-beam ed, shall ow draft, 106-foo t form er collier, newly named Endeavour. Frost captures the geographical derails of the 35- month voyage of Endeavour and how Cook ran wes t to the eas t coast of New H olland (Ausrralia) to fo llow it no rth before turning wes t in to the Indi an Ocean and then ho me to England . T his choice of a return ro ute m oved Cook, in th e estimatio n of Frost, "from competence to grea tness, fo r this ro ure wo uld ral<e him where no ne had been befo re." Just as impo rtant, and cerrain ly mo re insighrful of the nature of Coo k, is Fros t's introspective descriptio n of the maturatio n of Cook's hum ani ty and understanding as he deal t with first th e nati ves of T ahiti , then the Maori of New Zealand and , fin ally, th e Abo rigines of Australi a. Frost infers that this growth in imagination and his abili ty to let go of in grained European mores led him to in quire abo ut peoples' lives in th ese different societi es fro m more th an just a purely practi cal or scientific perspecti ve . ROBERT W. KESTELOOT
Resro n, V irgin ia A Sailor of King George: The Journals of Captain Frederick Hoffman, RN, 17931814, edi ted by A. Beckford Bevan and H . B. Wolryche-Whirmore (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD , 1998, 275 pp, illus, a pp e n , gloss, !SB 1- 5 575 0 -39 1-5; $34.95 hc) If o ne we re seekin g undramati zed, derailed in fo rm ation on life in rh e Royal Navy during the late 1700s and earl y 1800s, Captain H offm an 's journal, wrirren in 1838, burn o r published until 1901 , wo uld be a fin e starting point. T here is lirrl e embellishment and virtually no drama;
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however, there is a wealth of derail dealing with life in both ships-of-the-line and sm aller vessels. One can eas ily imagine the drama and fea r, as well as th e dreary routine aboard , by readin g between th e lines . Lr. Hoffm an bega n a life of servi ce as a boy, entering the Navy with lirrl e patronage as a midshipm an. His narrati ve points up derails abo ut li fe at sea fo r a yo un gs ter, and the autho r's keen eye and mem ory put us wirh him in rhe bowels of a sailing ship at sea as well as o n her decks. H e does nor dwell on flogging, mutin y o r o th er tempting tales of rhe Navy, but ra ther points our quire succin ctl y th at whil e mo re than half of the sailors manning England's ships were pressed, most became useful , skilled p rofessio nals, loyal to the Crown and to their ships. Hi s ca reer spann ed 2 1 yea rs, and Hoffman saw ac ti o n on nearly 20 occasions, incl udin g rhe Barrie ofT rafalgar where he was Se nio r Li eutenant on the lower deck of HMS Tonnan t. He was also present wh en the H ermione was brought in by HMS Surprise, and writes kn owledgea bly abo ut the mutiny, apparentl y from in rerviewing eyewitnesses. T wice captu red, o nce by the Spanish and o nce by th e French, Captain H offman seems to write quire unemotionally, alth ough wirh so me sa rcas m, abo ut his experiences in capti vity. H is straightforwa rd repo rting of losses to yell ow feve r, of officers and m en ali ke, as well as his own bout with the ofren-faral disease, is taken up as just another pro bl em to be dealt with . Hi s matter-of-fact, alm os t laconic descriptions of life-shattering events intensify their impact; one can only imagine the horror of bein g the recipi ent of hours of broadsides fro m three ships simultaneously at T rafalgar. Ye r H offm an shares with us rh e derails in a straightfo rward unembellished rhetoric. H is d roll humo r and often bi rin g co mm ents abo ut his peers and superio rs provide real ism and a wealth of derail abo ut th e pe ri od . Fa ns of Fred eri ck M arrya r's series (now in re-iss ue) of the era will undoubtedl y enjoy Captain Hoffman's rale, and maritim e history enthusias ts will wa nt this o ne in their collectio n. W I LLIAM H. W H ITE Rumson, New Jersey World War II Adventures of Canada's Bluenose, by Andrew Higgins and Jesse Spaldin g III (W est Indies T radin g Co .,
PO Box 3353, Newport Beach CA 926598353, 194 pp. , illus, ISBN 0-9663 073-0-J ; $25 pb + $5 s/h) T wo A m ericans, Andrew Hi ggins's fath er, T homas, and Jesse Spaldin g III , formed a C aribbean trading co mpany in 1942 . T he withdrawal of most of th e trad ing vessels in World War II to suppo rt war o perati o ns left a great need for shippin g of anyrype ro supply th e W esdndi es. Hi ggins and Spalding provided this with a form er Coast G u ard cutter and the fo rm er Canadian fis hin g schooner Bluenose. Higgins and Spalding recount th e tri als and tribulations of dealing w ith US and foreign government agencies, and the creation of a second co rpo ration to handl e affairs in H avana. Problems of ca rgo acqui siti on , po rrside facilities and manning are discussed in derail. Cargo included foo dstuffs, mi lita ry supplies and, at tim es, petroleum products and expl os ives . T he project cam e to an end with th e end ofWorld W ar II, releasing man y surplusbu t more suitabl e-vessels to resume the prewar trad e. D AV IDE. PERKI NS
Sebring, Flo rida The Ferry Building: Witness to a Century of Change, 1898-1998, by N ancy Olmsted (H eyday Boo ks, Berkeley CA, 1998, 240pp, illus, appen, notes, !SB 189077 1- 12-0; $3 0pb) Surm o unted by a strikingly handsome clock rowe r, whose steel frame survi ved rh e earthquake of 1906, San Francisco's Ferry Building has been called "A famous city's most fa m o us landm ark" by H erb C aen . Appropri atel y, the wa terfront street th at runs befo re the building, generally called the Emb arcadero, has been renamed for H erb Caen , San Francisco's best-loved column isr. A nd app ro priately again, th e inimi table, w itty and scholarl y Bay historian Na ncy Olm sted has put toge ther an enthralling photographi c and textual record of this sig nature building of rhe city by the Bay with valu able contributions by the San Francisco Chronicle's distinguished reporter Carl Nolte a nd others, reaching back to the la te Cap tain Fred Kl ebingar, whose deeds a nd word s we re reco rded by N MH S fo under Karl Ko rtum . Photographs reco rd the life of the changin g ciry ove r th e pas t century as seen from the ferry buildin g's commanding position
SEA HISTORY 89, SUMMER 1999