Captain James Cook

From 1763 to 1767 Captain James Cook, R.N., directed a survey embracing the greater part of the coast of Newfoundland. The charting of this coastline was the first scientific, large scale, hydrographic survey to use precise triangulation to establish land outlines. It produced a collection of charts which remained standard for a century. The choice of Cook to carry out Pacific exploration was the result of his success in Newfoundland. Cook’s visit to this area on his ascent of the Humber as far as Deer Lake was part of the first serious attempt to delineate the inland topography of Newfoundland.

De 1763 à 1767, le capitaine James Cook, de la Marine royale, procéda au levé topographique de la plus grande partie du littoral de Terre-Neuve. La cartographie du relief côtier de cette grande région constitua le premier levé scientifique de grande envergure par triangulation. On en tira une série de cartes qui firent autorité pendant un siècle. Au cours de ses travaux, Cook remonta la rivière Humber jusqu’au lac Deer. A cause de son succès à Terre-Neuve, il fut chargé de sa première expédition dans le Pacifique.