In May 1768, the Admiralty commissioned the 39-year old Cook to command a scientific voyage to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the 1769 transit of Venus across the Sun. The expedition sailed aboard HMS Endeavour in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn and continued to Tahiti, where the observations of the transit were made. Cook then opened sealed orders for the second part of his voyage: to search the south Pacific for signs of the postulated rich southern continent of Terra Australis. Cook proceeded to circumnavigate New Zealand's two main islands, which is where this volume ends. - Summary by David Cole