The Fatal Impact: An Account of the Invasion of the South Pacific 1767-1840 (Penguin Classic History S.) - Softcover

Moorehead, Alan

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9780141390291: The Fatal Impact: An Account of the Invasion of the South Pacific 1767-1840 (Penguin Classic History S.)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141390298 ISBN 13: 9780141390291

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2000

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When Captain Cook made his landfall on Tahiti in 1769, the population was around 40,000 people; half-a-century later, the figure was down to nine thousand. When Captain Phillip's first fleet of eleven ships carrying about eight hundred convicts sailed into Botany Bay in 1788 the aborigines were virtually the only human beings on the Australian continent; today they have been reduced to around 250,000 in a population of over 18 million. When Cook discovered South Georgia, he was amazed by the wealth of bird and marine life; in the ensuing fifty years the killing of whales and seals reached such a pitch that there was virtually nothing left to kill. Ironically, in each case, it was the humane Captain Cook who was to cause the fatal impact.

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Product Description:

230 pages. Book appears to have hardly been read and is in Fine condition throughout. When Cook Discovered South Georgia, He Was Amazed By The Wealth Of Bird And Marine Life, In The Ensuing Fifty Years The Killing Of Whales And Seals Reached Such A [itch That There Was Virtually Nothing Left To Kill.

Synopsis:

When Captain Cook entered the Pacific in 1769, it was a virgin ocean, pristine and savage, and its inhabitants lived a life of primeval innocence. Seventy years later, firearms, disease and alcohol had hammered away at this way of life until it crumbled before them, and where satan had sown. the protestant missionaries reaped. In this work, Alan Moorehead tells the tragic story of a great adventure which turned sour, in which good intentions led to disaster, corruption and annihilation. And ironically it was Cook, the greatest and most humane explorer of his day, who was to cause the fatal impact.

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