Sea Adventure: Cook in Resolution Cove (colour litho)

Cook in Resolution Cove. Captain James Cook on his last expedition in 1778 stayed nearly a month on the west coast of Vancouver Island, giving his men a much-needed rest in the little inlet which he named Resolution Cove, after his ship. But while Cook's explorations usually yielded invaluable new lands to be added to the British Empire, on this occasion he failed to note that he was lying on the outside of an island, not the mainland. Had he been aware of this, and the wonderful possibilities of the land behind it, he would have acted more vigorously and saved Britain a dispute over possession later on. Illustration for one of a set of 50 cigarette cards on the subject of Sea Adventure, issued by Hignett Brothers in 1939.