bly
he little thought of that son as establishing a fame which would be
handed down in history.

James Cook does not appear to have enjoyed any peculiar educational
advantages, but owed his subsequent advancement chiefly to his own
intelligence, perseverance, and diligence. He first went to a village
school, and was afterwards sent, at the expense of Mr Skottowe, to an
ordinary commercial school, kept by a Mr Pullen. He continued there
four years, and was then apprenticed to Mr William Sanderson, a grocer
and haberdasher at the fishing town of Straiths, ten miles from Whitby.
It may be supposed that the occupation in which he was engaged was not
suited to his taste. The sea was constantly before his eyes, and the
desire to seek his fortune on it sprang up within him, and grew stronger
and stronger, till in about a year after he went to Straiths he obtained
a release from his engagement with Mr Sanderson, and apprenticed
himself to Messrs. Walker and Company, shipowners of Whitby. He went to
sea for the first time when he was about eighteen, on board one of their
vessels--the Truelove collier, [Note 1] of four hundred and fifty tons
burden, trading between Newcastle and London. The lad soon showed that
he was well fitted for his new profession, and in 1748, not two years
after he had commenced it, we find him especially directed to assist in
fitting for sea the Three Brothers, a new ship of six hundred tons.
While he served on board this ship she was hired by Government as a
transport; and on her being paid off she was employed in the Norway
trade.

After making several voyages in the Three Brothers up the Baltic, young
Cook was promoted to the rank of mate on board the Friendship. He had
by this time gained the goodwill of his employers; and had made several
other friends on shore, who, before long, were enabled to render him
essential service. He was now known as a thorough seamen; indeed, from
the moment he went on board ship, he had steadily applied his mind to
acquiring a knowledge of his profession. Still he served on as mate of
the Friendship till the breaking out of the war between England and
France in 1756, when he made up his mind to push his fortunes in the
Royal Navy. He knew that at all events there was a great probability of
his being pressed into the service, and he had good reason to hope that
he might be placed ere long on the quarter-deck, since many young men at
that time had been who went