James Cook, Captain of HMS Barc Endeavour (b. 7th November 1728 - d. 14th February 1779). Steel engraving by E. Scriven 1833 with later hand colouring, after the painting by N. Dance 1775/6 in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Dance's painting was considered \an excellent likeness\" at the time. Explorer, navigator and cartographer, Cook's voyages to the South Seas were the foremost scientific explorations of the 18th century. He was accompanied on his first voyage by botanist (and later President of the Royal Society) Joseph Banks who commissioned the painting upon which this engraving is based. His crew became the first Europeans to see Australia's eastern shore. During later voyages he looked for the Antarctic continent and searched for the northwest passage, charting and discovering islands as he went. He was killed while ashore in Hawaii during a dispute with its inhabitants."