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Back when I was a boy,
I had to learn a little poem,

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and I expect you did as well.

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It went, "In 1492,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

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I can't remember
any of it after that,

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but it doesn't actually matter,
because those first two lines

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cement the salient pub quiz fact
in your head.

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It was 1492, Christopher Columbus
set sail from Spain,

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he discovered America,
hopped ashore at Long Island,

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and rewarded himself
with a nice, fat hot dog.

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But there must
actually be more than that

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to this rather enigmatic character.

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Why, for example,
is he celebrated as a national hero

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in a country he never even visited?

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'So, join me, viewers,
as I set out to discover that.

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'The age of the Great Explorers

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'was one of the most dramatic
in history.'

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BOOMING EXPLOSION
Oh-ho-ho-ho!

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'When men risked their lives...'

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Cast off and set sail. Whoa!

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Take up on the peak.
Argh!

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'..to seek new lands.'

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We're somewhere
north of the dog's arse.

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Where the camera gone? Hello.

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They crossed thousands of miles
of treacherous ocean,

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they built floating fortresses,
they mapped the stars,

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they developed
whole new branches of science.

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Eurgh! Absolute pish.

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'But were these explorers
really heroes,

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'or just a bunch of chancers?'

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It's a miracle he found anything,
really.

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Completely made up.
Man was a charlatan.

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'And is their legacy
one of triumph...'

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Ooh!
'..or destruction?'

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Crikey.
Now it's turning a little bit dark.

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'I'm doing
a bit of discovering of my own...'

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BANG
Unbelievably terrible.

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Medieval satnav 2.0 - a stick.

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'..to learn how these explorers
conquered the oceans...'

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Look at that. I love it.

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Nobody panic yet.

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It's not just a map, it's a weapon.

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'..and changed the world forever.'

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Whoa!
Dial out!

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Ah, gold!

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If you were in the navy, the French
would definitely have got us.

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CHUCKLES

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CLUNK

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'Columbus's world-changing voyages
began in southwest Spain,

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'which is nice, because I get
to have a lovely scenic stroll

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'for your viewing pleasure.'

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I think we got it, the walking shot.

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'All good voyages start with a map,
and here's the one Columbus had.'

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Now, very easy for me to say this
in the 21st century

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after a very agreeable lunch,
but it's a bit crap.

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Apart from that there are
a lot of things missing -

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Australia and New Zealand
for example -

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look at the shape of everything!

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Look at Africa.
Look at the shape of that.

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It's ridiculous.

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Back when Columbus was a lad,

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the most exciting part of the world
was Asia.

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This is where all the shiny
and aromatic stuff

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that Europeans coveted came from,
carried along the Silk Road.

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But... unfortunately, in 1453 -

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this is when Columbus
was still an infant -

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Constantinople
had fallen to the Ottomans,

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which caused
a bit of a Silk Road block.

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The Europeans no longer had access
to all those lovely silks

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and spices and jewels.

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They were just stuck
with their mud and turnips,

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as if they were all
living in Norfolk.

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Something had to be done,

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and what had to be done was
to find a sea route from Europe

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over to the Indies,
as Asia was then called.

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This is how
The Great Age of Exploration began.

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Forget the space race,
this was the spice race.

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The Portuguese were the
hot favourites to get there first,

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but it was a hazardous voyage
over 10,000 miles south,

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around Africa, and off to the east.

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'Enter a man with a plan.'

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Those steps are really annoying.
LAUGHS

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'Not me, Columbus.'

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Rather in the way that young men
these days are obsessed with, say,

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magazines about Airfix models,

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the young Chris Columbus
was obsessed with maps.

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And he had a brother
who ran a map shop,

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so he could get high
on his own supply.

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Historians have long believed that
Columbus was an Italian from Genoa,

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but recently, some have claimed

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that he may have been
a Spanish Jew from Valencia.

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While they fight it out,

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what we do know is that
he spent a lot of time on boats,

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and he knew that daring sailors
were rewarded with great riches.

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He became obsessed with finding
a quicker route to Asia,

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and with, of course,
the glory that would follow.

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So, after several more years
of sailing and calculating

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and map-bothering,
he'd come up with a plan.

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He would absolutely
slash the journey time to Asia

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by simply going west.

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This was revolutionary -
sailing off the edge of the map.

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But if he could pull it off,
fame and fortune would be his.

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With fevered excitement,
he travelled to the courts of Europe

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and pitched his plan
to their kings and queens...

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..who all told him to sod off,
sailing west was madness.

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But Columbus, whether stubborn
or simply delusional, persevered.

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He tried schmoozing.
He tried "map-splaining".

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He tried boring them witless.
He tried for years.

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Finally, and at the grand old age
of 41, he got a bite.

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Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain
had just won a very expensive war

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expelling the Moors
from their country,

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and they needed
a bit of a cash injection.

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They also probably quite liked
the idea of sticking one over

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on their great rivals,
the Portuguese.

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And it's also possible

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they were simply sick to death
of Columbus nagging them.

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It was game on.

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Europeans would be sailing
over the horizon to the west.

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The Crown found backers to pay
for crews and three small ships,

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and they sent Columbus here,
to Palos de la Frontera,

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to collect the lucre.

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In the 15th century,

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the streets of Palos would
have been rammed with boat builders,

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ropemakers and drunken sailors.

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Columbus met with
the bravest of the ship-owners,

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who lived in this house
and laid out his plans.

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In just a few short weeks,

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he would be in Asia -
except for one slight snag.

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Let's have a look
at Columbus's workings

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to see where it went
so horribly wrong.

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As our high-tech demo will show,

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it starts with a philosopher
in ancient Egypt

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whose name is very easy to say (!)

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STRUGGLING: Eratos...thenes.

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He noticed something
a bit strange about shadows.

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This is the spinning celestial
dust mote that humanity calls home.

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The sun is represented
by this torch on a stick.

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In reality, it is much bigger
and much further away.

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This is how they do things
at the Griffith Observatory (!)

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Here is Egypt. Now, here is a camel.

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And if I put the camel down there,
you can see

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that the shadow of the camel
is directly below the camel.

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If we now move the camel
further north...

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..you can see
it casts a shadow that way.

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Clever old Eratosthhh...whatever

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measured the different angles
of the shadows,

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did a spot of trigonometry

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and worked out
the circumference of the Earth.

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He was accurate to within 1%,

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which is
an absolutely phenomenal result.

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Unfortunately
for our hero Christopher,

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he based HIS reasoning on the work
of a different ancient, Ptolemy,

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who, in turn, had based his work on
the assumptions of some other bloke,

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and they were miles out.

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The moral of this story is
don't copy other people's homework.

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Ptolemy's estimate
shrank the world by 28%

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Columbus had backed the wrong camel.

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I shall extinguish the sun.

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Getting the girth of the Earth wrong
could have fatal consequences

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for the sailors on the voyage.

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Right, let's go back to that
15th century map of the known world,

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reproduced here
in handy laser-cut wood.

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His idea was to go west

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and approach the Indies
from the other side.

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So, we'll rearrange the map.

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Erm... Hang on. How does it look?

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Something like that? Bear with me.

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With the 28% shrinkage,
he was already off to a bad start.

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But then Columbus made a series
of other errors.

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Most notably,
he confused the Roman mile

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with the bigger Arabic mile,

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and that made the Indies
apparently there.

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Columbus's whole plan
was based on an idea of the world

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that was 58% too small.

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He calculated that that
would be four weeks' sailing away.

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The truth, however,

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is that Asia
is all the way over there,

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or twelve weeks' sailing.

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Columbus's mistakes,

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and the mistakes of those around him
all the way back to antiquity,

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spelled certain death
for a crew on that voyage.

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00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,840
If only he'd had the plastic
Chinese globe, the bicycle light,

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and the knock-kneed plastic camel
with Blu-Tack on its feet,

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he'd have known.

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00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,520
And, of course, there was
another thing he didn't know yet.

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There was something else here.

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00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,840
JAMES MAY:
Welcome back, viewers, to 1492.

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After ten years
of persistent nagging,

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00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:06,280
Christopher Columbus has finally
convinced the Spanish Crown to pay

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00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:11,880
for his frankly insane voyage
sailing west to Asia.

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There was just one thing
he'd forgotten -

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00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,560
to check if a ship
could actually sail there.

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Well, he was in luck.

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00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,560
Sailing technology had recently
made a major leap forward,

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00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,840
thanks to a new type of sail.

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00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,240
'Time for a demonstration.'

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00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:29,600
Permission to come aboard, skipper.

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00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,920
'Now, if you're expecting fancy CGI
or re-enactors in dodgy wigs,

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00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,280
'this is not the series for you.

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00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,200
'But if you're expecting me
with dodgy hair

200
00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:41,920
'investigating exactly
how it all happened and why...'

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00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:43,080
Morning.

202
00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:47,480
'..well, you're in luck.
Join me aboard 12ft dinghy Skiffy.'

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00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:52,120
This sail setup is known
as square rig, for obvious reasons.

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00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,800
This is what most European ships
would've had.

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00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,160
But the Portuguese,
especially in the 1400s,

206
00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,400
noticed another type of sail,
a triangular one.

207
00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,080
And what we're going to do today
is demonstrate the difference

208
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:07,040
by sailing to a buoy just over there
and back again.

209
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,400
I've got the skipper on board,
who is Alan.

210
00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:10,280
Aye, aye.
Aye, aye.

211
00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:12,280
And he's here to take control
if necessary,

212
00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,120
and to make sure I don't
accidentally sail to the Caribbean.

213
00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:16,920
Are you ready, skipper?
I am.

214
00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,520
In three, two, one. Go!
Go.

215
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:26,880
If you just slacken off that.
That's it. Right.

216
00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:30,680
Goodbye, cruel world.

217
00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,720
'The first leg is downwind,
plain sailing all the way.'

218
00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,960
Oh, God, there's the buoy.
Bring it round.

219
00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:43,320
'But next comes the upwind leg.'

220
00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:46,680
CREW MEMBER:
Going in the wrong direction!

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00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:49,760
Where are you, camera?
ALAN LAUGHS

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00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:51,960
Come over here.
I need to talk to you.

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00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,800
The point about the square sail
is that it's really just like

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00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,880
a big bin bag full of wind.

225
00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:00,520
It's great
when you're going downwind,

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00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:01,920
the wind is roughly behind you,

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00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:03,840
it fills up,
and it thrusts you along.

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00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,320
But when you want to go towards
the wind, it's a bit problematic.

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00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:09,560
'Whilst it's all very easy downwind,

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00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:12,800
'upwind, the ship has to do
something called tacking -

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00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,160
'basically,
catching what wind you can

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00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,760
'to zig-zag
to where you want to go.'

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00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:19,680
For this reason,
sailors were quite nervous

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00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:22,040
about sailing away
from the shore downwind,

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00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:24,800
because their fear was that
they'd never be able to get back.

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00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,040
They'd be lost at sea forever,
rather like we are.

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00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:31,680
SONG: 'Drunken Sailor'

238
00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:33,640
We want to go over there.

239
00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,960
'But tacking with a square sail
is not easy.'

240
00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:39,000
Ready about?

241
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,200
Ready about.
OK, here we go.

242
00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:43,840
We ARE moving.

243
00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:47,360
ALAN LAUGHS
Just the wrong way.

244
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:52,880
Well, that's three metres

245
00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:54,440
in about 15 minutes.
ALAN LAUGHS

246
00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:58,080
It'll take us a while
to find the New World at this speed.

247
00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,760
'After about half an hour
of getting nowhere fast,

248
00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,280
'or rather slowly,

249
00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,960
'we admitted defeat
and got a tow from the crew

250
00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,160
'back to the start line.'

251
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,200
Right, that square sail
was frankly rubbish,

252
00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,040
but let's see how we get on
with the triangular ones,

253
00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:17,760
which were an absolute game-changer.

254
00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:20,200
'In the early 15th century,

255
00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:24,600
'sailors had noticed
a different sail used in the East.

256
00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,400
'On the River Nile, for example,
the wind mostly blows south,

257
00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:31,440
'but boats could still sail north
just fine.

258
00:13:31,440 --> 00:13:34,320
'Triangular sails were the key,

259
00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,720
'and they would revolutionise where
sailors like Columbus could go.'

260
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:40,280
Ready?
Righty-ho.

261
00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,600
'Just like with the square sail,

262
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:48,800
'the downwind leg is easy-going,
a gentle beeline towards our buoy.'

263
00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:51,800
Right, we're going to come round,
up towards the wind now.

264
00:13:51,800 --> 00:13:55,800
'But as we round the buoy,
we're not being blown backwards.'

265
00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:57,680
We're pretty much going
in the right direction.

266
00:13:57,680 --> 00:13:59,720
That's where we want to go.

267
00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:02,040
But we're only, sort of,
30 or 40 degrees off.

268
00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:03,960
It's a huge difference.

269
00:14:06,080 --> 00:14:08,600
The sail is now
acting like an aerofoil.

270
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:10,320
When the wind rushes over it,

271
00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:14,160
it creates an area of low pressure
on the curved side, the outer side,

272
00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,160
and high pressure on the inside.

273
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,960
It's great.

274
00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,600
'And the finish line's in sight.'

275
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,400
Victory!
Yay!

276
00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:31,920
We've done it.

277
00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,320
What a craft Skiffy is
with triangular sails.

278
00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,120
A nice, neat zig-zag,

279
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,960
and home in time
for cocktails and a debrief.

280
00:14:46,400 --> 00:14:49,440
And that was deeply significant
because it shortened journey times,

281
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:51,920
and it meant the sailors
weren't quite so scared

282
00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:53,680
of being lost at sea.

283
00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,600
All because of triangular sails.
It's fantastic.

284
00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,720
'A simple change
in the shape of a sail

285
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:04,160
'meant that Columbus could now
change the shape of the world.

286
00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,080
'But to go with his sails,
he needed ships.

287
00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:13,360
'And for ships,
he needed to go to the Palos Port,

288
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:16,720
'the Cape Canaveral of its time.'

289
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,200
Here is a replica
of Columbus's fleet.

290
00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,600
In the middle is the Santa Maria.

291
00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:22,920
Not really very big,

292
00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:24,840
when you consider
what it was going to achieve,

293
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,360
but it is at least
"plumptious" in the hold,

294
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,120
so it can bring back all those
spices and treasures from Asia.

295
00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,760
Ha-ha! Either side,
there is the Pinta and the Nina,

296
00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:36,640
based on Portuguese designs.

297
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,000
Small, sleek, fast.

298
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,000
The whole lot could be expected
to bimble along

299
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,760
at a very vigorous four knots or so,
roughly a brisk walk.

300
00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:51,360
Ships like these

301
00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:54,880
were one of the greatest feats
of engineering of the age,

302
00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,520
floating fortresses
that harnessed the wind

303
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,640
to transport you to lands afar.

304
00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:02,600
Now, if anybody watching this
is thinking,

305
00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:06,080
"Ooh, that would be an adventure,
going off on an old sailing ship,"

306
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:07,680
you might want to think again.

307
00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,880
Come aboard,
and I'll show you what I mean.

308
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,240
You have to bear in mind that there
were 90 blokes on these three tubs.

309
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,080
They stayed in the same clothes
for the entire voyage

310
00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,680
in their own slime and filth.

311
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:24,920
They slept in shifts,

312
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:27,840
and you slept simply
in a convenient place on the deck,

313
00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,920
probably curled up on an old sack
or something.

314
00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,160
The smallest of the lot
was the Nina,

315
00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,840
a proper little leaky tub,
God above!

316
00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,240
It's about 60ft stem-to-stern.

317
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,280
And I don't know if you've watched
any of those YouTube videos

318
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:49,800
called things like Container Ship
In Heavy Atlantic Swell.

319
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,240
HOWLING WIND

320
00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,520
They're absolutely terrifying.

321
00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:55,880
But now imagine doing that in this,

322
00:16:55,880 --> 00:17:00,680
which is really just
a bit of a GCSE woodwork project.

323
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,040
It's unthinkable.

324
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,560
This would be bad enough
on a trip along the coast,

325
00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:09,160
but the renegade Columbus
would be sailing these ships west

326
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:10,520
into the blue beyond.

327
00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:13,040
I don't know
what he's smiling about.

328
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,560
Believe it or not,
it wasn't that easy

329
00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:18,920
to persuade men
to go on these voyages,

330
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:20,400
and one way
they got around this problem

331
00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,880
was to offer an amnesty
to criminals.

332
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:24,560
Murderers, for example.

333
00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:26,040
"We'll let you off,

334
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:30,280
"but you have to go on
Christopher Columbus's voyage." Hm.

335
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,280
To sum up, this was
a death cruise on a rickety tub,

336
00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,840
sleeping on a sack
with a bunch of stinking murderers.

337
00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:39,520
No wonder he couldn't get the staff.

338
00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:47,000
I know some of you are wondering,
and no, there were no lavs onboard.

339
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,320
You just had to let it hang out
over the side.

340
00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,160
But at least the food was terrible.

341
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,320
Somehow,
Columbus managed to scrounge up

342
00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,360
a motley crew of 87 sailors,
and they would need feeding.

343
00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:05,960
Food rotted quickly
in the hot, damp ships' holds,

344
00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,800
so almost everything he took
was dried to preserve it.

345
00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,480
Right, well, here is a selection
of the sort of things

346
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,840
Columbus's crews
would've had onboard.

347
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,520
There's salted fish,
some hard cheese,

348
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:23,480
salted pork, peas, raisins,
lentils, and some nuts.

349
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,680
They would've also had
lots of liquid things, thankfully.

350
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,400
Delicious red wine and beer.

351
00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:36,520
But half of their calorie intake
would have come from something

352
00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:40,920
called ship's biscuits,
or hard tack,

353
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,320
and we're going to
make some of that right now.

354
00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:46,720
OK, this is not really
very different

355
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:49,000
from making something
like a chapati,

356
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:50,360
but don't get your hopes up.

357
00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:53,080
'It's a very basic recipe.

358
00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:55,080
'Two types of flour,
boring old wholemeal

359
00:18:55,080 --> 00:19:00,320
'and a delicious,
fibrous green flour made from peas.'

360
00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:01,560
Mm, very nice (!)

361
00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:05,960
'Add some salt, because even sailors
deserve flavour in their biscuits,

362
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:08,920
'and bind it all together
with water.'

363
00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,560
Now, I've worked on a cooking show,
and I know that we're now going

364
00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:17,520
to skip ahead to a point where I've
already made a lovely ball of dough.

365
00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:20,560
That's how cooking shows work,
even in the 15th century.

366
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:22,120
SHORT BEEP

367
00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,760
Weirdly,
that we're talking about explorers,

368
00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:28,120
this has worked out
to look more like a map of Tasmania,

369
00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:30,480
but anyway, that comes much later.

370
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,840
'Now, one essential requirement
of ship's biscuits

371
00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:35,600
'was that under no circumstances

372
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:37,880
'were they allowed to be light
and fluffy.'

373
00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:39,880
They made a series of holes in it,

374
00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,840
going all the way through
with a fork

375
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:44,800
to stop exactly that happening.

376
00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,000
So, anyway,
that's basically the gist of it.

377
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:50,360
And now, again,
by the magic of television,

378
00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:51,680
we will skip forward to a point

379
00:19:51,680 --> 00:19:54,040
where a whole load of these
have been baked.

380
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:55,120
SHORT BEEP
Look at those.

381
00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,640
Let's see what it tasted like,
being an explorer.

382
00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:05,320
Oh.

383
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:10,680
It's quite difficult to articulate
how horrible that is.

384
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,160
It's extremely boring, very dry.

385
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,880
I mean, almost wantonly miserable.

386
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,600
Now, those were once-baked biscuits,

387
00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,480
but the fact is, they baked them
a lot more than that.

388
00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:25,120
The point was
to remove all moisture from them

389
00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:28,160
because moisture would encourage
the growth of mould.

390
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,560
So, here are some I made even,
even earlier.

391
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,120
These are twice-baked.
Let's see what the effect is.

392
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:39,160
Oh, God!

393
00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,480
So hard to chew.
That's only twice-baked.

394
00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:59,000
OK, four-times-baked
ship's biscuits.

395
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:03,400
SLIGHT CRUNCH,
HE LAUGHS

396
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:04,640
Oh!

397
00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,320
You need a machine tool
to get through this.

398
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,240
CRUNCH
Oh, a bit came off.

399
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,880
CRUNCHING

400
00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:17,880
That's unbelievably terrible.

401
00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:19,320
Oh, excuse me,

402
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,680
I'm gonna have to have a bit of beer
to get rid of that.

403
00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,600
'The sailors soaked the biscuits
in water to soften them.

404
00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,320
'But once a day, if the weather
was calm enough to cook,

405
00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,840
'they got to dip them
in a bowl of this stuff.'

406
00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:36,280
Ta-da! Salt pork and pea stew.

407
00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,120
That is a pre-softened
ship's biscuit.

408
00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,120
I can't do it, I'm sorry.

409
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,240
How long has that been soaking for?

410
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:50,040
CREW MEMBER: About an hour.
An hour?!

411
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:53,120
'Best resort to a spoon
if I want to keep my teeth.'

412
00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,000
Mm. That is delicious.

413
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,240
But it might be delicious because
I've been eating ship's biscuits.

414
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:05,520
It's a bit like being beaten up,
and then when it stops,

415
00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:06,680
you think, "This is nice."

416
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,280
But it isn't really nice.
It's just normal.

417
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:14,240
Columbus's very, very baked biscuits
might have been mould-free,

418
00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,800
but there wasn't much he could do
about these little fellas.

419
00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:22,000
These are weevils,

420
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,720
and these got into
absolutely everything.

421
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,160
Now, they're perfectly harmless
to eat.

422
00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:31,800
They also help to weaken
the structural integrity

423
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:33,760
of the ship's biscuit
by burrowing through them.

424
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:35,760
But nevertheless, they are weevils.

425
00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:38,720
To demonstrate just how different

426
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,200
their enthusiasm for ship's biscuits
is compared with mine...

427
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,840
Oh, yeah,
they've gone absolutely mad for it!

428
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:46,760
SHORT BEEP
They're also escaping.

429
00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:48,640
CREW MEMBERS: Oh, no!

430
00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:52,000
Some of them
have actually jumped out.

431
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,840
They're very agile.

432
00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,400
So, now, as a poor sailor,
miles from home,

433
00:22:57,400 --> 00:23:01,120
hungry, probably cold,
you're faced with stark choice.

434
00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,320
It's a protein-enhanced,

435
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:08,640
unchewable ship's biscuit, or...

436
00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:10,360
a nice glass of red.

437
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:17,240
Thank you for watching.

438
00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:19,480
Mm!
SHORT BEEP

439
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:21,240
Oh, God. There's one in there!

440
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,480
Finally, Columbus's ships were
packed with everything he needed -

441
00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:37,040
sailors, biscuits, wine, weevils,
and a very badly wrong map.

442
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,880
All that was left to do was pray.

443
00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,600
The night before the voyage,

444
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:46,640
Columbus came and prayed fervently
to the Virgin Mary,

445
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,840
because he knew that what
he was about to do was terrifying.

446
00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:53,880
Even for a seasoned sailor,

447
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,160
it was a highly dangerous leap
into the unknown.

448
00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:04,720
"O mare o l'e male,"
went the ancient Genoese saying.

449
00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:06,960
"The sea is evil."

450
00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:11,360
Early the next morning,

451
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:14,240
after four months of preparation
and decades of planning,

452
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,320
the three tiny little ships
weighed anchor

453
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:23,160
and set off that way,
over the horizon, into the unknown.

454
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,480
JAMES MAY: Welcome back to
the dawn of the age of exploration.

455
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,920
Christopher Columbus
is finally setting sail for Asia.

456
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,440
And it's lucky he had all these
sea gods looking out for him,

457
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,360
because he'd misplaced it
by around 10,000 miles.

458
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:45,720
He'd set off,
had a brief stop at the Canaries

459
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,440
to stock up on more delicious
hard tack and wine,

460
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,160
and headed west, roughly speaking.

461
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:52,400
Very roughly speaking.

462
00:24:55,240 --> 00:25:00,320
This is the satnav
of Columbus's era, the astrolabe.

463
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,040
It basically gives you the height
of the sun above the horizon,

464
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,400
and that allows you
to calculate your latitude,

465
00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,280
how far north or south
on the globe you are.

466
00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,960
Now, this is a piece of tourist tat
from a gift shop,

467
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:12,280
and it is completely useless,

468
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,760
but the one Columbus had
was completely useless as well.

469
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,240
And in any case,
he didn't like using it.

470
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,040
He said,
"For my voyage to the Indies,

471
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,280
"I did not make use of intelligence,
mathematics or maps."

472
00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:27,880
At that rate, it's surprising
he made use of a ship.

473
00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:33,840
So, how exactly was he navigating
his way to Asia?

474
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:35,320
Let's find out.

475
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:37,680
Sailors would use something
called "dead reckoning".

476
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:40,040
Which is nothing
to do with being dead -

477
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:41,520
although that was highly likely

478
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,240
if you were a sailor
in Columbus's time -

479
00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:44,880
but it's to do
with your relationship

480
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,560
to something
that is dead in the water.

481
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,960
Typically, a piece of seaweed.

482
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:53,640
If I toss this over the side,
that's dead in the water.

483
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,000
There it goes. We're going that way.

484
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,960
It can also tell you
how fast we're going that way.

485
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,360
'Time to reckon with dead reckoning
with a little challenge.'

486
00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:04,760
Right, what we're gonna do now

487
00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:08,760
is attempt to sail
a perfect equilateral triangle,

488
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:10,160
in which each side

489
00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:12,520
is half a nautical mile long.

490
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:16,320
'We'll navigate our triangle course
Columbus-style.

491
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,600
'Skipper Ben is in charge
of the seaweed dispersal.

492
00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,600
'Skipper Alan
is in charge of direction.

493
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,200
'And Skipper Me is in charge of time

494
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,240
'and bossing
the other skippers about.'

495
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,080
I'm going to count how long
it takes the seaweed to go

496
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,680
past the boat,
all the way to the stern.

497
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:37,480
They didn't have any reliable way of
measuring seconds back in the day,

498
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,120
so they had to do it by chanting,
which is what I'll do.

499
00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:42,400
OK, skip, are you ready
with seaweed? Aye.

500
00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,920
And go!

501
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,760
One mea culpa, two mea culpa,
three mea culpa, four mea culpa.

502
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,160
Four seconds. Four seconds
is a boat speed of four knots.

503
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:57,160
So, to do a nautical mile
will take us...?

504
00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:00,280
Seven-and-a-half minutes.
Seven-and-a-half minutes, OK.

505
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:03,440
By the way, the reason the chant
for the piece the seaweed going past

506
00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,320
is "one mea culpa, two mea culpa"
is because, well,

507
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:08,840
these days, we'd say
"one potato, two potato",

508
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,680
but potatoes
hadn't been invented yet.

509
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:13,040
SKIPPER LAUGHS

510
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,000
About a minute to go
until the new heading.

511
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:18,680
'On Columbus's voyage,

512
00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:23,000
'the crew made careful records
of speed and direction every hour.'

513
00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:24,560
Nobody panic yet.

514
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,920
'But for our exercise, we have to do
it on each new leg of the triangle.'

515
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,120
Ready to go about. And go!

516
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,240
That's gonna go with a bang, guys.
Yeah.

517
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:39,000
Helm over.
OK, jibe ho!

518
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:44,800
Cor!
And yes, go!

519
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,960
One mea culpa, two mea culpa,
three mea...

520
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:51,160
It's just under three seconds.

521
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,920
Six knots, five minutes.
Relax, everybody.

522
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:57,280
And next, we will turn back
for the final leg

523
00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:00,200
of our perfectly-sailed
equilateral triangle.

524
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:04,520
'After one more tack...'

525
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:07,560
Here we go.

526
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,440
OK.
'..one more speed check...'

527
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:18,600
Four mea culpa, five mea culpa...
Three-and-a-half knots, six minutes.

528
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,480
'..and five-and-a-quarter
more minutes...'

529
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,280
We've got about 45 seconds to go,
crew,

530
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:27,800
and then we will be back
exactly where we started.

531
00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:29,360
Keep on saying it,
and you'll be right!

532
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:33,200
ALL LAUGH
Does it look like where we started?

533
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:35,560
Well, the point is,
it does look like where we started,

534
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:37,920
because it looks like the sea,
that's part of the problem.

535
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:40,400
Yes, yeah.
And hang on, here we go.

536
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:43,680
Three, two, one. There we are,
we are back where we started.

537
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:45,920
Perfect.
In the ocean.

538
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,680
Right, let's have a look at
the actual GPS plot of what we did.

539
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,520
Right.
Our triangle.

540
00:28:54,800 --> 00:28:56,720
There you go.
That is absolutely woeful.

541
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,280
BOTH LAUGH
It's not...

542
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:03,680
It's not even vaguely triangular.
It's actually more of a rectangle.

543
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:06,800
'If we went this badly wrong
over just three nautical miles,

544
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,320
'imagine how wrong
Columbus was going over 3,000.'

545
00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:13,200
We were a bit rubbish then,
but in fairness to us,

546
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,880
so was Christopher Columbus.

547
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:17,760
Everything he did was wrong.

548
00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,640
It's a miracle he found
anything at all, really,

549
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:22,320
and didn't just go round
in a circle.

550
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,840
In truth,
the ships were lost at sea,

551
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:30,240
heading in the direction
not of China, but Papua New Guinea,

552
00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,440
and that would have been
a whole other story.

553
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,360
The weeks were ticking by,

554
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:40,760
and the crew were getting
more and more worried,

555
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,400
because sooner or later,
their supplies would run out,

556
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,960
if indeed they were still edible.

557
00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,760
Which brings me back to Spain
and onto my favourite subject.

558
00:29:51,760 --> 00:29:53,800
Now, I've said this
many times before,

559
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:56,200
but this is an excellent place
to say it again.

560
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:59,960
Woodwork... is important.

561
00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:01,920
WHIRRING

562
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:08,280
Good woodworking was a matter
of life and death for sailors,

563
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,800
not just because
their ships were made of wood

564
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,320
but because of what
is being made here - barrels!

565
00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:16,920
These people are coopers.

566
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:19,760
'What a polite man.

567
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,120
'I don't think
he actually needed that bit.

568
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:25,480
'In case you haven't noticed
the racket in the background,

569
00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,240
'there have been a few updates

570
00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:30,760
'since the handsaws and planes
of Columbus's day.'

571
00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:35,160
Each vertical piece,
or stave, as it's called,

572
00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:37,720
is quite a sophisticated component
in its own right.

573
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:41,040
It is of itself barrelled,
to use the engineering term,

574
00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,600
it's fatter in the middle
than at the ends.

575
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:47,120
It's also hollowed out
on the inside,

576
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:50,000
and it's slightly chamfered
on both edges.

577
00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:53,480
'Now, like me,
you're probably thinking

578
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:55,840
'that these barrels are love poems

579
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,640
'written in the language
of exquisitely curved oak.

580
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:01,400
'But no,
this is some high-grade tech,

581
00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,200
'engineered with precision

582
00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:07,600
'to perfectly preserve Columbus's
food and wine... and weevils.

583
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:10,160
'They are the tin cans
of the 15th century,

584
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,520
'just a lot more beautiful.'

585
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:14,800
Your half-finished barrel
is soaked in water

586
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,160
to make the wood more pliant.

587
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,400
And then it's brought over here
and put on a bonfire.

588
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:25,480
Whoa!

589
00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:32,440
Thank God he put it out.

590
00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:34,200
Look at the inside.

591
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:38,520
'The fire leaves behind a layer
of carbon that helps seal the wood.'

592
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,160
It's a thing of beauty.

593
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:43,440
It's still not finished.

594
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,120
Getting that end in
is a little bit like

595
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,000
getting the tyre back
on your bicycle after a puncture.

596
00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,440
Gracias.
Did you see the end-over-end bit?

597
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,440
That's why the barrel is
the shape it is.

598
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,280
It's a very,
very manoeuvrable object.

599
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,280
Skilled people
can just flip them around,

600
00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:10,560
spin them around,
roll them over there,

601
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,080
even when they're full.

602
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:15,240
MUSIC: 'The Blue Danube'
by Johann Strauss II

603
00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,120
You find yourself slightly in fear
of being run over by a barrel.

604
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,720
So, there is the completed barrel.

605
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:38,280
A thing of beauty, but also vital,

606
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:40,760
because all the provisions
that went onboard

607
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,320
would have gone in these,
liquids and food.

608
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:44,720
That horrible hard tack,

609
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,080
the ship's biscuits
that we made earlier on,

610
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:48,520
they would have been stored
in these.

611
00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:52,440
So they had to be perfectly sealed,
otherwise liquids would run out

612
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,160
or seawater would get in
and make those biscuits,

613
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,400
believe it or not,
even more unpalatable.

614
00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,120
So, this really is a matter
of life and death for sailors.

615
00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:06,520
The cooper is as important as
the captain and as the shipwright.

616
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,520
So, I'm gonna say it again,
woodwork is important!

617
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:12,960
Now, while these beautiful barrels

618
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,600
would have perfectly preserved
Columbus's dried foods,

619
00:33:16,600 --> 00:33:18,160
as his voyage went on,

620
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,760
his drinking water
would have started festering

621
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:22,440
with deadly diseases.

622
00:33:22,440 --> 00:33:26,280
Time to visit a lab
with my own mini water barrel,

623
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,480
presumably made by a mini cooper.

624
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:32,320
Now, four weeks or so ago,

625
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,520
Jason, our Spanish fixer,
filled this with water,

626
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,080
well water, fresh but untreated,

627
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:41,160
exactly the sort that Columbus
would have had on his journey.

628
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,760
And Chris thought the voyage
would last for four weeks.

629
00:33:44,760 --> 00:33:51,440
So, let's see what four-week-old
barrel-stored water is like.

630
00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,200
Here we have a sample pot,
and we need 100 millilitres.

631
00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,560
Oh, dear. It's disgusting.

632
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:10,160
It's sort of stale
and definitely a bit brown.

633
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,600
If only we had lab technician
called Melania

634
00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:14,880
to do a proper analysis
of that for us.

635
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:16,480
Gracias.

636
00:34:17,640 --> 00:34:21,080
'Melania is going to extract
the filth from our water

637
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,160
'and grow a culture from it
to see what's lurking.'

638
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:28,000
That now goes off
for analysis in the lab.

639
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,360
She'll also do a second batch

640
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:33,520
that factors in
the sailors' hygiene onboard.

641
00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,160
Last time I was left alone
in a chemistry lab

642
00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:38,960
with a Bunsen burner
was in about 1976.

643
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:41,760
Didn't end very well.

644
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,040
So, now do I get
to look down a microscope?

645
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:49,600
'In the great tradition
of television,

646
00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:51,560
'here's one Melania made earlier.

647
00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:55,400
'First, the four-week-old well
water, straight from the barrel.'

648
00:34:55,400 --> 00:35:00,320
Oh, that looks disgusting!
What is it?

649
00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,280
IN SPANISH:

650
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,920
'The bacteria in this water

651
00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:11,920
'could cause food poisoning,
pneumonia and sepsis.

652
00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:16,160
'Bad news for Columbus's crew.
What about the second sample?'

653
00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:20,640
Now, what Melania did
is sort of simulate water

654
00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:24,680
that would have been drunk by people
from a communal scuttle bucket

655
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,280
with their personal drinking cups -
tankards, if you like.

656
00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,640
And, of course,
the sailors didn't live

657
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,000
particularly clean
or wholesome lives,

658
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:35,400
so things like sweat
and faecal matter

659
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,000
would have been introduced.

660
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,560
And I'll look at it underneath
my magnifying lamp.

661
00:35:39,560 --> 00:35:42,640
Eurgh! It's got a face!

662
00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:45,760
This sample
actually has E. coli in it.

663
00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,800
So, what that means is if you were
a sailor in the 15th century

664
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:52,440
and you wanted to go
on a voyage of exploration,

665
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:56,760
you had to be prepared
to drink Tom Bowling's turds.

666
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:59,280
Thank you, that was... delightful.

667
00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:08,840
Back to 1492, nearly a month
into Columbus's journey.

668
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,000
He'd thought that by now
he'd be enjoying a slap-up supper

669
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,600
and a hero's welcome in Asia.

670
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,400
But he was still lost
in the blue beyond.

671
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,520
Four weeks passed
and then five weeks.

672
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:24,040
Supplies were dwindling.
There was still no sign of land.

673
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,000
The crew were becoming edgy,
and they wanted to turn back.

674
00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:29,760
Columbus's crap sums
on the back of an envelope

675
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,720
were leading them further
and further into nothingness.

676
00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:36,120
The water must have been
disgusting by now.

677
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,280
But maybe God
was on Columbus's side.

678
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:45,640
Because after five and a bit weeks
at sea,

679
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:49,320
and at almost exactly the point
where he said they would find land,

680
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:52,520
they found... land.

681
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:54,920
But it wasn't Asia.

682
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:02,760
JAMES MAY: 'You rejoin me
at an exciting time, viewers.

683
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:06,000
'An utterly inept sailor...'

684
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:07,960
Boom!

685
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:13,760
'..not me - Columbus - had somehow
crossed an ocean and made it to...

686
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:18,520
'not Asia, some mysterious islands
that we now know as the Bahamas,

687
00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:23,440
'Cuba and Hispaniola
in the Caribbean in the Americas.

688
00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:24,960
'Try telling him that, though.'

689
00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:29,040
'He was certain he was
on some islands just off Japan.'

690
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:31,400
Now, it's probably fair to say
that the people of Spain

691
00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,800
weren't exactly on tenterhooks
waiting for news of Columbus.

692
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:36,760
He'd been gone for seven months.

693
00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:39,040
Most people thought
they'd never have to be bothered

694
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:40,120
by Columbus again.

695
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:42,480
But then a letter
to the Queen arrived,

696
00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,360
sent by Columbus
on his safe return to Europe.

697
00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:47,120
I've got a copy of it here.

698
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:50,120
It's all written
in miniscule Old Spanish,

699
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:55,080
but this is the 21st century,
so I have a translation app.

700
00:37:55,080 --> 00:37:59,480
And he wrote that,
"I arrived at the Indian Sea..."

701
00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:00,760
Ha-ha-ha.

702
00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:04,360
"..where I discovered many islands
inhabited by many people.

703
00:38:04,360 --> 00:38:08,760
"I took possession of all of them
for our most illustrious King

704
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,960
"by public proclamation
and unfurling of banners,

705
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:14,360
"with no-one making any resistance."

706
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:15,840
Really?

707
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:19,880
The letter was shared
all over Europe, accompanied by -

708
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:23,400
brace yourselves, viewers, for
the next best thing after woodwork -

709
00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:24,800
woodcut prints.

710
00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:26,280
CHORAL MUSIC

711
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:30,680
This is a 15th-century version
of a tabloid front page.

712
00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:34,080
The first thrilling pictures
of the new lands to the west

713
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,440
and of the local Taino people,

714
00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:39,480
who Columbus said
welcomed them with open arms.

715
00:38:39,480 --> 00:38:42,280
Also, here's one in colour
as a treat.

716
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,120
"They traded with us
and gave us all they had,

717
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:47,480
"graciously and willingly.

718
00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:49,440
"Your Highness may believe
that in all the world,

719
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:51,480
"there can be no better people.

720
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:54,440
"They love their neighbours
as they love themselves.

721
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,360
"They have the sweetest manner
in the world,

722
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:59,160
"and they are gentle
and always laughing."

723
00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:02,240
Now, we should probably take
a moment to enjoy that record

724
00:39:02,240 --> 00:39:05,880
of a rather beautiful bit
of human interaction,

725
00:39:05,880 --> 00:39:09,600
because pretty soon,
things are gonna get a bit bloody.

726
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:13,280
The ships returned,
minus the Santa Maria,

727
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:15,560
which Columbus,
ever the skilled navigator,

728
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:17,840
had crashed into some rocks.

729
00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:20,120
And he got a bit lost too.

730
00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:22,480
But when they finally arrived,

731
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,920
the nation was
in fevered anticipation

732
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,120
to see what they'd brought back.

733
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:32,960
The two ships arrived back in Spain
seven months after they'd departed,

734
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:35,600
and they were full
of marvellous and exotic things,

735
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,280
the likes of which had never
been seen in mouldy old Europe.

736
00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:41,960
To start with, exotic fruits.

737
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:44,760
Here is a selection of things
that weren't available

738
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:47,560
in the local greengrocer
up until then.

739
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:50,080
This one deserves
a particular mention.

740
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,600
It is a fruit.
It is a chilli pepper.

741
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:55,440
And people discovered
that if you ate these,

742
00:39:55,440 --> 00:39:58,000
they set fire to both ends
of your alimentary canal,

743
00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:01,520
but they did change
our eating habits forever.

744
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,160
There were fun new pets.

745
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:05,000
Talking parrots became all the rage,

746
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,680
whether you were a prince
or a pirate.

747
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,080
This one came
from the visitor's centre.

748
00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:12,440
There were things to swing in.

749
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:15,480
The hammock would go on
to revolutionise sailing

750
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:17,200
and the health of sailors.

751
00:40:17,200 --> 00:40:20,120
There was... oh, dear, tobacco.

752
00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:21,800
The sailors tried this,

753
00:40:21,800 --> 00:40:24,280
and the weird thing was
that once they tried it once,

754
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:26,240
they found
they couldn't stop trying it.

755
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:30,560
And there was one other thing
that was even more addictive.

756
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:31,600
That...

757
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:34,960
..is gold.

758
00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:39,520
Forget Asian silks and spices,

759
00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,520
this was the stuff
explorers' dreams are made of.

760
00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:46,480
The word "gold" appears
in Columbus's diary

761
00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:50,480
of his first voyage 142 times.

762
00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,440
In truth, he only managed
to scrounge a piddling amount

763
00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:54,760
from the Taino people,

764
00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:57,120
but that's not
what he told the Queen.

765
00:40:57,120 --> 00:40:59,680
He said they had
"vast mines of gold"

766
00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:04,080
and that she could have as much gold
as she desired.

767
00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:09,320
That little white lie
was the sweetest sound to a monarch,

768
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:12,000
because gold means power.

769
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,360
Gold! We've always believed in it.

770
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:16,840
Humans have been obsessed with it.
And why?

771
00:41:16,840 --> 00:41:19,200
Well, the Aztecs thought
it was produced

772
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,560
by the life-giving force of the sun.

773
00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:26,040
It's also in limited supply,
which means it can be controlled.

774
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:30,480
Even today, it is believed that
all of the world's gold reserves

775
00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:34,880
would fit in one big block between
the legs of the Eiffel Tower.

776
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:41,240
'Here, old gold is melted down and
refined in one of these, a crucible,

777
00:41:41,240 --> 00:41:42,840
'by one of these, an Adam.'

778
00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:45,440
How long will that take to warm up?
About five to eight minutes.

779
00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:49,960
'The Taino gold was in the form of
beautiful jewellery and keepsakes,

780
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:54,360
'but to Columbus,
it just meant cold, hard cash.'

781
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:56,880
It's things that were once
incredibly precious to people,

782
00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:58,320
but they're probably now dead.

783
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:00,680
Just remember that when you retire

784
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:04,760
and you're given your gold watch
or your solid gold letter opener,

785
00:42:04,760 --> 00:42:09,120
one day, you will turn to dust,
and it will turn to scrap.

786
00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:10,800
There it is.

787
00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,120
That's upbeat, isn't it?
THEY CHUCKLE

788
00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,440
The crucible is now
as red as a Spanish sailor

789
00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:20,320
exposed to too much Caribbean sun.

790
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:24,080
This is your last chance
to reclaim that wedding ring,

791
00:42:24,080 --> 00:42:26,840
gold sovereign, watch band.

792
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,040
No? OK, chuck it in, then.

793
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:34,280
It's all gone in the pot.
It's all coming out as an ingot.

794
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:38,600
I love the colours of the flames.
Look at that green there.

795
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:40,560
Gone.

796
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,440
'While our gold melts,

797
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:46,840
'let's look at how Columbus managed
to persuade his new acquaintances

798
00:42:46,840 --> 00:42:49,440
'in the Caribbean
to part with their gold.'

799
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,240
Now, the Taino people on the islands
didn't have this technology.

800
00:42:54,240 --> 00:42:55,920
They didn't have furnaces.

801
00:42:55,920 --> 00:42:59,080
What they would do was find nuggets
in the streams and rivers

802
00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:01,440
and simply hammer them into shape.

803
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:05,280
But what really impressed them
was the work of the Arawak people

804
00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:08,080
on the mainland,
because they did have furnaces.

805
00:43:08,080 --> 00:43:12,480
They melted gold, and they
alloyed it with rich red copper

806
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:16,280
to give them something a bit like
what we would call rose gold.

807
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:19,320
They called it "guanin".

808
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,680
Now, fortuitously,
Columbus's men had with them

809
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,080
a great deal
of another copper alloy, brass,

810
00:43:26,080 --> 00:43:28,160
which is made from copper and zinc.

811
00:43:28,160 --> 00:43:30,440
And it was in the form
of trinkets, really,

812
00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:32,280
like these little hawk bells.

813
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:36,680
And the Tainos really loved these,
because they looked like,

814
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:41,000
and just as importantly,
even smelled like

815
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:42,840
the guanin from the mainland.

816
00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:49,200
So the sailors were able to trade
these virtually worthless trinkets

817
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:52,280
for handfuls of real gold.

818
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,840
The sailors
couldn't believe their luck.

819
00:43:55,840 --> 00:43:58,240
Neither could the Spanish Crown.

820
00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:04,000
Right, here is the big moment,
the pour.

821
00:44:04,000 --> 00:44:05,720
I am going to press the button.

822
00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:07,360
Are you ready for me
to press the button?

823
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:08,240
Ready.
Here it comes.

824
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:13,600
Ah! Gold!

825
00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:18,480
We talk about people
dripping in gold.

826
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:22,320
This actually is dripping gold.

827
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,640
Looks like a slightly...
bar of toffee at the moment.

828
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:28,280
Just don't lick it.

829
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:32,680
'Columbus said that gold
is the greatest treasure

830
00:44:32,680 --> 00:44:37,000
'and that he who possesses it
can do all he wishes in life.'

831
00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:38,560
I like it!

832
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:41,840
'Gold, simply put, meant greatness.'

833
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:47,200
Gold, like the love it so often
represents, has been quenched.

834
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:49,600
Last thing now, to clean it.

835
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,800
And it's heavy... because it's gold!

836
00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:02,160
Oh-ho-ho! There it is.

837
00:45:02,160 --> 00:45:05,640
Even in that state, it's worth,
I would guess,

838
00:45:05,640 --> 00:45:08,480
what, £350,000-£400,000?

839
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:10,000
Yeah, give or take.

840
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,800
So, really,
it's that or a pretty decent house.

841
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:17,480
That's what the Spanish
went mad for.

842
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:18,920
It drove them insane.

843
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:24,400
Is your security quite good here?

844
00:45:26,240 --> 00:45:29,400
Columbus was
the court's new golden boy.

845
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:32,240
He was granted a second voyage
post-haste,

846
00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:34,840
but this wasn't just a gold grab -

847
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:37,560
or at least
it couldn't be seen as one.

848
00:45:37,560 --> 00:45:41,320
Isabella wanted souls too,
to convert the Taino people

849
00:45:41,320 --> 00:45:44,480
from their gods
to her Christian one.

850
00:45:44,480 --> 00:45:47,960
This time,
Columbus set sail with 17 ships

851
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:49,560
full of sailors, obviously,

852
00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:54,920
but also soldiers, priests,
woodworkers, stonemasons, miners,

853
00:45:54,920 --> 00:45:58,280
everybody you needed
to set up a whole new society.

854
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:01,000
And his instructions
from the Crown were twofold -

855
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,520
convert souls and find gold!

856
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,760
JAMES MAY:
'Welcome, viewers, to 1493.

857
00:46:13,760 --> 00:46:17,720
'And Christopher Columbus
is now a pretty big queso

858
00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:20,080
'after finding land to the west

859
00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,400
'glittering with the promise
of gold.'

860
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,040
I am walking on television.

861
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:28,000
'But now he has to do it again.

862
00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:32,400
'And all of Europe is watching.'

863
00:46:33,680 --> 00:46:36,360
Now, as we know,
he's a terrible navigator.

864
00:46:36,360 --> 00:46:37,960
Look, he's dropped the chart,

865
00:46:37,960 --> 00:46:40,480
and that globe's
probably just a drinks cabinet.

866
00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:44,080
So, how the hell is he going to
pull it off it a second time?

867
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:46,680
Well, it was actually
a bit of a breeze.

868
00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:54,040
This bucket o' ice represents
the cold of the North Pole,

869
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:58,480
and this bucket of hot water
represents the heat of the equator.

870
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:01,040
Science again!

871
00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:04,640
My handy smoke stick
will show how wind is formed.

872
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:07,800
And you will see
that the flow of cold to warm

873
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:12,120
will make it go down that tube
to the equator in a second.

874
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:15,560
Yes! Look at that!

875
00:47:15,560 --> 00:47:18,200
That's really quite fabulous,
isn't it?

876
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:22,240
Anyway, if I can just give that
to an assistant

877
00:47:22,240 --> 00:47:26,240
so I don't burn down Christopher
Columbus's old headquarters.

878
00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:31,680
That steady airflow, AKA wind,
is pretty handy for sailors.

879
00:47:31,680 --> 00:47:37,640
If we look at the globe again,
that means the wind would blow...

880
00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:40,520
Whee! ..south towards the equator.

881
00:47:40,520 --> 00:47:42,560
But of course,
the world is spinning.

882
00:47:42,560 --> 00:47:46,360
So if I make the wind blow
and the world spin

883
00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:48,840
at the same time, look what we get.

884
00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:52,480
That was almost spot-on, actually.

885
00:47:52,480 --> 00:47:57,480
Columbus had stumbled upon God's
own transatlantic conveyor belt,

886
00:47:57,480 --> 00:47:59,880
the trade winds.

887
00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:01,560
And this is still used
by modern sailors.

888
00:48:01,560 --> 00:48:04,840
They say things like, "If you want
to go to America from Europe,

889
00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:08,280
"sail south until butter melts,
and then turn right."

890
00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:12,200
Now, any old idiot could sail
to the Americas,

891
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:14,760
but next came the difficult part -

892
00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:19,160
establishing
Spain's first New World HQ.

893
00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:22,200
So, a man who was bad at maths
but got lucky

894
00:48:22,200 --> 00:48:25,040
was now tasked with setting up
a whole town

895
00:48:25,040 --> 00:48:27,920
on an island 4,000 miles away.

896
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:30,480
1,200 people
would be travelling with him,

897
00:48:30,480 --> 00:48:33,720
and they would need housing,
and before that, of course, feeding,

898
00:48:33,720 --> 00:48:36,120
and that meant taking animals.

899
00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:42,880
'Columbus packed cows, mules,
some of these cute little fellas...'

900
00:48:42,880 --> 00:48:45,320
He's surprisingly heavy
for a little pig.

901
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:48,920
'..and, of course, a herd of TV's
least co-operative contributors.'

902
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:52,280
Hello, goat.
They are largely buggering off.

903
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:57,400
Now, all of the animals they took

904
00:48:57,400 --> 00:49:00,040
were completely alien
to the people of the Caribbean.

905
00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:02,760
The only animals
they had domesticated so far

906
00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:06,400
were dogs and guinea pigs,
which were for -

907
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:08,840
children, look away - eating.

908
00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:16,240
Columbus's ships were
the New World Noah's Ark.

909
00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:20,200
His animals would go on
to populate the Americas.

910
00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:22,560
Every time
the Spanish passed an island,

911
00:49:22,560 --> 00:49:24,920
they'd drop off a couple of pigs,
a boy and a girl, obviously,

912
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:27,600
so that they would multiply
and become a future food source.

913
00:49:29,240 --> 00:49:31,800
It's just cupboard love, isn't it?
GOAT BLEATS

914
00:49:31,800 --> 00:49:33,560
You just want goat snacks.

915
00:49:33,560 --> 00:49:36,000
Chomp, chomp, chomp!

916
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,720
Goats like these
ran wild and feral all over.

917
00:49:38,720 --> 00:49:42,120
And if you'd never heard one,
you might have found their bleating

918
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:45,200
quite intimidating
or even terrifying

919
00:49:45,200 --> 00:49:49,120
until you work out that goats
are actually just complete halfwits.

920
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:50,960
Aren't you?

921
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:54,160
But there was one animal

922
00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:57,320
that would truly captivate
the people of the New World.

923
00:49:57,320 --> 00:49:59,720
Imagine if you'd never seen
a horse before,

924
00:49:59,720 --> 00:50:02,320
or, more importantly,
seen someone riding one

925
00:50:02,320 --> 00:50:05,760
going faster than any human could go
on their own legs.

926
00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:08,320
The horse would become
incredibly important

927
00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:10,040
to the indigenous people's culture,

928
00:50:10,040 --> 00:50:12,400
because they could ride them
for transport.

929
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:15,600
They also used them
for warfare and for hunting.

930
00:50:15,600 --> 00:50:16,840
And most importantly,

931
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:20,000
if you'd never seen a horse before
and you didn't have horses,

932
00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:22,920
you would never have seen
that level of cuteness.

933
00:50:22,920 --> 00:50:26,080
That foal is one week old.

934
00:50:26,080 --> 00:50:28,680
Took me years to learn that,

935
00:50:28,680 --> 00:50:32,200
standing up and... wagging my tail.

936
00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:35,800
Oh.
CREW: Hey!

937
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:43,320
Riches from Columbus's new colony

938
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:46,240
would soon start arriving
back in Spain,

939
00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:49,720
and the palace in Seville
became the operations centre

940
00:50:49,720 --> 00:50:52,760
for all New World exploration.

941
00:50:52,760 --> 00:50:56,080
Spain was so delighted
with its new lands,

942
00:50:56,080 --> 00:50:58,280
it wanted the world
to know about them.

943
00:50:59,440 --> 00:51:01,720
And the way to get
the world's attention back then

944
00:51:01,720 --> 00:51:03,400
was with a painting.

945
00:51:03,400 --> 00:51:04,680
Wow!

946
00:51:04,680 --> 00:51:07,760
This is
The Virgin Of The Navigators.

947
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:14,080
This painting comes from an era
when art was largely functional.

948
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:17,480
It was there to dispense
quite clear messages.

949
00:51:17,480 --> 00:51:20,720
And the one in this painting
seems to be that Columbus's journeys

950
00:51:20,720 --> 00:51:25,280
were really more like missions,
it was about spreading Christianity.

951
00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:27,560
And the painting is surrounded
by saints.

952
00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,000
It's all pretty clear.

953
00:51:30,000 --> 00:51:34,480
It's not about conquering lands
or anything tawdry

954
00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:37,200
like, I don't know, gold.

955
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:43,600
Even then, spin was alive and well,

956
00:51:43,600 --> 00:51:48,000
and there's a second lie
hidden in the painting.

957
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,360
You will notice at the back,
barely visible,

958
00:51:50,360 --> 00:51:53,080
the indigenous people
gratefully sheltering

959
00:51:53,080 --> 00:51:55,440
under the loving embrace
of the virgin,

960
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:58,040
just as Queen Isabella herself
felt that she was.

961
00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:00,400
Isabella had told Columbus,

962
00:52:00,400 --> 00:52:05,560
"Treat my Indians well and kindly
and do not upset them in any way."

963
00:52:07,880 --> 00:52:09,800
Well, guess what?

964
00:52:11,120 --> 00:52:12,360
Thanks to the trade winds,

965
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:15,760
Columbus had arrived
back in Hispaniola,

966
00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:18,360
which he still insisted was Asia.

967
00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:21,640
He built a rudimentary camp,
called it La Isabela

968
00:52:21,640 --> 00:52:24,480
and waited for the gold to roll in.

969
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:28,400
So, this story so far
has been really rather upbeat,

970
00:52:28,400 --> 00:52:31,320
nice sailing ships,
making barrels and so on.

971
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:34,280
And now it's turning
a little bit dark.

972
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:38,000
He immediately ran into a problem.

973
00:52:38,000 --> 00:52:41,760
The settlers he brought with him
weren't collecting enough gold.

974
00:52:41,760 --> 00:52:44,040
But that was OK,
because he had the answer as well.

975
00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:45,720
He'd get the local people to do it.

976
00:52:45,720 --> 00:52:47,240
So, he decided that

977
00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:50,760
the Taino people would deliver him
one hawk's bell full of gold

978
00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:53,720
every three months,
or they would be punished.

979
00:52:55,720 --> 00:53:00,040
Now, I have to warn you that
these next pictures are horrifying.

980
00:53:00,040 --> 00:53:01,440
It was brutal.

981
00:53:01,440 --> 00:53:04,160
There were floggings
and maulings by dogs,

982
00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:06,520
women were raped,
people's hands were cut off

983
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:08,440
and they were left
to bleed to death.

984
00:53:08,440 --> 00:53:10,120
There were mass suicides,

985
00:53:10,120 --> 00:53:12,920
and hundreds were sent to Spain
as slaves,

986
00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:15,280
to the horror of Isabella.

987
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:19,720
It was all presided over
by Columbus, and all for gold.

988
00:53:19,720 --> 00:53:21,600
Now, none of this stuff is mentioned

989
00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:26,640
in the famous 1492 ditty,
unsurprisingly.

990
00:53:26,640 --> 00:53:32,440
Word got back to Spain, but Columbus
would still make two more voyages.

991
00:53:32,440 --> 00:53:35,040
It was only when
the Spanish settlers complained

992
00:53:35,040 --> 00:53:37,440
about him flogging them too

993
00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:41,520
that Ferdinand and Isabella
could no longer turn a blind eye.

994
00:53:41,520 --> 00:53:45,160
Spain's national hero
was brought back in chains

995
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:48,240
and banned
from the colony he'd founded.

996
00:53:49,520 --> 00:53:51,480
But that wasn't the end
of the regime.

997
00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:54,680
In fact, it was only the beginning.

998
00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:58,200
Pretty soon, Isabella was sending
anybody who had a ship

999
00:53:58,200 --> 00:53:59,440
over to the Americas,

1000
00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:02,160
and they would take their crops,
their animals,

1001
00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:05,840
everything they needed
to set up a new society.

1002
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:10,720
And they also took death,
because they took disease.

1003
00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:16,360
This handsome building
is St Bart's Hospital in London.

1004
00:54:16,360 --> 00:54:19,200
It's home to their Pathology Museum,

1005
00:54:19,200 --> 00:54:22,040
which is home
to these interesting-looking jars,

1006
00:54:22,040 --> 00:54:23,040
which are home to...

1007
00:54:24,840 --> 00:54:28,160
..oh, dear, bits of people.

1008
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:30,520
This is one of the few places
in the world

1009
00:54:30,520 --> 00:54:32,960
where you can still see
the hideous effects

1010
00:54:32,960 --> 00:54:37,560
of the sort of diseases that
were rife in the time of Columbus.

1011
00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:40,840
Here, for example,
is what smallpox does to you.

1012
00:54:40,840 --> 00:54:46,320
It causes the end of your foot
to drop off and land in this jar.

1013
00:54:46,320 --> 00:54:50,760
This is what bubonic plague does
to your kidneys.

1014
00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:55,160
Typhoid does this to your...

1015
00:54:55,160 --> 00:54:58,920
I think that's probably
someone's appendix, or was.

1016
00:54:58,920 --> 00:55:02,760
And then syphilis does
terrible things to your skull,

1017
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:08,440
and it does particularly
terrible things to your "thumbs".

1018
00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:13,000
Now, the point here is
that Europeans had lived

1019
00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:15,440
with a lot of these diseases
for a very long time,

1020
00:55:15,440 --> 00:55:17,440
so they'd built up
a certain immunity,

1021
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:20,440
they had antibodies
to act against them.

1022
00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:23,480
But the indigenous Americans
didn't have them.

1023
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:25,320
So when the Spanish sailors arrived,

1024
00:55:25,320 --> 00:55:27,720
they brought quite a lot
of this stuff with them

1025
00:55:27,720 --> 00:55:29,760
to devastating effect.

1026
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:35,000
So far, so horrifying,
but the history is worse.

1027
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:38,280
'Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock
is not the sort of doctor

1028
00:55:38,280 --> 00:55:40,240
'who can help you with your plague

1029
00:55:40,240 --> 00:55:42,680
'but the sort
who can help us understand

1030
00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:45,960
'what the indigenous Americans
were experiencing.'

1031
00:55:45,960 --> 00:55:50,360
This is an image
of the 1520 smallpox epidemic

1032
00:55:50,360 --> 00:55:52,920
which took place in
the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan.

1033
00:55:52,920 --> 00:55:55,440
You can see
how people experienced it.

1034
00:55:55,440 --> 00:55:57,480
The woman here is caring,
they're speaking.

1035
00:55:57,480 --> 00:55:59,160
That's what
that little scrawl means.

1036
00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:00,880
She's caring for this person here.

1037
00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:03,920
This is smallpox?
This was new to them?

1038
00:56:03,920 --> 00:56:06,640
They didn't have it pre-Columbus?
It was. It was new.

1039
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:09,480
It's the first
of three enormous epidemics

1040
00:56:09,480 --> 00:56:12,920
which sweep across Mexico
in the 16th century.

1041
00:56:12,920 --> 00:56:16,920
Within 150 years
of Columbus's voyage,

1042
00:56:16,920 --> 00:56:20,120
disease,
made worse by famine and war,

1043
00:56:20,120 --> 00:56:25,120
would kill a staggering 80%
of the indigenous American people.

1044
00:56:25,120 --> 00:56:28,760
And for those who survived,
more horrors awaited.

1045
00:56:28,760 --> 00:56:31,920
You have accounts of people
who are being enslaved

1046
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:35,480
and transported across the Atlantic
even, some into the Caribbean,

1047
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:37,840
some all the way as far
as Spain and Portugal.

1048
00:56:37,840 --> 00:56:39,320
I hadn't really
quite appreciated that.

1049
00:56:39,320 --> 00:56:42,040
So, the indigenous Americans,

1050
00:56:42,040 --> 00:56:45,680
they were actually enslaved
in Europe? Yes.

1051
00:56:45,680 --> 00:56:49,680
But it's a really unknown part
of this colonisation.

1052
00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:52,280
And so perhaps a million people
are enslaved in Mexico alone

1053
00:56:52,280 --> 00:56:54,840
in the first 100 years
after the invasion.

1054
00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:57,800
Maybe tens of thousands
are shipped across the Atlantic,

1055
00:56:57,800 --> 00:57:00,960
far more into other parts
of the Americas.

1056
00:57:00,960 --> 00:57:02,480
Wow. I didn't know that.

1057
00:57:02,480 --> 00:57:05,920
The better-known transatlantic
slave trade is, of course,

1058
00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:08,880
the one shipping African people
to the Americas.

1059
00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:13,400
And it turns out that's embedded
in the disease story too.

1060
00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:15,880
In the Caribbean especially,

1061
00:57:15,880 --> 00:57:18,760
the Spanish work to death
so many people,

1062
00:57:18,760 --> 00:57:22,320
and so many die of disease, that
they start needing more labourers.

1063
00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:25,000
So they begin to think
in terms of importing people

1064
00:57:25,000 --> 00:57:28,520
across the Atlantic to replace
the indigenous communities.

1065
00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:30,720
Right. Wow.

1066
00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:35,640
Some of the darkest chapters
of human history

1067
00:57:35,640 --> 00:57:38,960
seem to have followed
in Columbus's wake.

1068
00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:43,160
In your opinion,
Columbus, goodie or baddie?

1069
00:57:43,160 --> 00:57:44,960
Was he a product of his times,

1070
00:57:44,960 --> 00:57:46,840
and therefore
we shouldn't judge him for it,

1071
00:57:46,840 --> 00:57:48,520
or is he culpable?

1072
00:57:48,520 --> 00:57:50,960
I mean, as you'd expect
from a historian, I'm gonna hedge,

1073
00:57:50,960 --> 00:57:52,600
because I don't think
goodie or baddie

1074
00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:54,360
is a great way to measure history.

1075
00:57:54,360 --> 00:57:56,720
He was a product of his time,

1076
00:57:56,720 --> 00:57:59,720
but he was also
the largest single trader

1077
00:57:59,720 --> 00:58:02,520
in enslaved indigenous people
during this early period.

1078
00:58:02,520 --> 00:58:06,920
He saw the slave fortresses
that the Portuguese had built

1079
00:58:06,920 --> 00:58:09,680
on the West African coast,
and he is inspired by that

1080
00:58:09,680 --> 00:58:12,640
and thinks he can do the same thing
in the Americas.

1081
00:58:12,640 --> 00:58:15,000
He literally says
to Ferdinand and Isabella,

1082
00:58:15,000 --> 00:58:17,600
"We can take as many of these people
as you want."

1083
00:58:17,600 --> 00:58:20,040
And it's all very well to say
he's a man of his time,

1084
00:58:20,040 --> 00:58:21,840
but Isabella is also of her time,

1085
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:24,120
and she keeps saying,
"Stop enslaving these people.

1086
00:58:24,120 --> 00:58:25,400
"I've told you not to."

1087
00:58:25,400 --> 00:58:28,960
Yes. Very good point, yes. Hmm.

1088
00:58:39,320 --> 00:58:43,840
It's 1506, viewers, and after
four journeys to the Caribbean,

1089
00:58:43,840 --> 00:58:49,000
Christopher Columbus has been banned
from the colony he'd helped found.

1090
00:58:49,000 --> 00:58:53,560
I bet you're gagging for me to tell
you about Columbus's fifth journey,

1091
00:58:53,560 --> 00:58:56,200
the one where
he finally discovers America,

1092
00:58:56,200 --> 00:59:00,520
what would become the USA and
where he is so widely celebrated.

1093
00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:01,760
Well, there wasn't one,

1094
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:04,400
because he never went there
and he never set foot there.

1095
00:59:04,400 --> 00:59:09,160
Instead, he went to bed
in a sulk, in ill health,

1096
00:59:09,160 --> 00:59:12,040
and in a fury
over his fall from grace,

1097
00:59:12,040 --> 00:59:13,280
and then he died.

1098
00:59:14,560 --> 00:59:17,440
Historians speculate that the cause
of death could have been anything

1099
00:59:17,440 --> 00:59:21,840
from heart disease,
a tropical disease, arthritis,

1100
00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:25,520
an intestinal parasite
or even an STD.

1101
00:59:25,520 --> 00:59:30,000
Whatever, as the old sailors
used to say, he had gone aloft.

1102
00:59:30,000 --> 00:59:33,320
And he's probably buried here
in Seville's cathedral.

1103
00:59:33,320 --> 00:59:35,680
I say probably
because we can't be entirely sure.

1104
00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:39,680
He was dug up and reburied
six times.

1105
00:59:39,680 --> 00:59:42,600
An explorer, even in death.

1106
00:59:48,240 --> 00:59:51,080
So, Columbus's legacy.

1107
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:54,000
This map was made
the year after he died.

1108
00:59:54,000 --> 00:59:57,120
But what are those two
weird streaky bits on the left?

1109
00:59:57,120 --> 00:59:59,680
Hint, they're not called
Columbus Land.

1110
01:00:00,880 --> 01:00:03,360
While Columbus maintained
right to the end

1111
01:00:03,360 --> 01:00:05,280
that he had been in Asia,

1112
01:00:05,280 --> 01:00:11,720
a rival explorer, Amerigo Vespucci,
had two continents named after him.

1113
01:00:11,720 --> 01:00:14,800
North Vespucci,
and, of course, South Vespucci (!)

1114
01:00:16,640 --> 01:00:19,800
'Soon, anyone with a ship
was heading to the Vespuccis,

1115
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:22,960
'or the Americas,
as they're sometimes called.

1116
01:00:22,960 --> 01:00:25,320
'From now on,
there would be a constant flow

1117
01:00:25,320 --> 01:00:27,680
'of all sorts of strange
and wonderful goods

1118
01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:31,040
'to European shores,
from the exotic...

1119
01:00:31,040 --> 01:00:32,880
The pineapple!

1120
01:00:32,880 --> 01:00:35,720
So highly prized, if you were
having a posh dinner party,

1121
01:00:35,720 --> 01:00:38,000
you could rent one
to impress your mates.

1122
01:00:38,000 --> 01:00:39,840
'..to the delicious...'

1123
01:00:39,840 --> 01:00:42,240
Where would we be in Europe
without the potato?

1124
01:00:42,240 --> 01:00:46,560
No crisps, no chips,
no delicious Sunday roasties.

1125
01:00:46,560 --> 01:00:48,080
'..to the nutritious...'

1126
01:00:48,080 --> 01:00:54,720
Tomatoes, we had courgettes,
we had avocadoes.

1127
01:00:54,720 --> 01:00:57,800
Life for the European vegan
was about to become very exciting.

1128
01:00:57,800 --> 01:01:00,240
They'd been stuck with
the parsnip cutlet for centuries.

1129
01:01:00,240 --> 01:01:03,280
'..to the frankly world-changing.'

1130
01:01:03,280 --> 01:01:06,080
Very easy to grow,
doesn't require much irrigation.

1131
01:01:06,080 --> 01:01:08,800
And potatoes and maize together

1132
01:01:08,800 --> 01:01:11,720
would cause
a European population boom.

1133
01:01:11,720 --> 01:01:15,040
The exact opposite, in fact, of
what was happening in the Americas.

1134
01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:18,640
And as the Spanish took over
more of the new world,

1135
01:01:18,640 --> 01:01:20,320
spreading disease as they went,

1136
01:01:20,320 --> 01:01:24,280
they finally got hold
of what had eluded Columbus -

1137
01:01:24,280 --> 01:01:27,960
great big boatloads of gold.

1138
01:01:27,960 --> 01:01:32,840
Right, the exact figure is
hotly debated in academic circles -

1139
01:01:32,840 --> 01:01:37,520
ie pubs - but we believe that
prior to Columbus's first voyage,

1140
01:01:37,520 --> 01:01:43,000
the amount of gold in
the known world came to 297 tonnes.

1141
01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:46,520
We don't have
that kind of props budget,

1142
01:01:46,520 --> 01:01:49,880
so we're using a scale
of one gram to one tonne.

1143
01:01:49,880 --> 01:01:53,480
That is your 297 tonnes
in the world.

1144
01:01:53,480 --> 01:01:57,880
Within 60 years
of Columbus's first voyage,

1145
01:01:57,880 --> 01:02:01,720
the Spanish had extracted
from the New World

1146
01:02:01,720 --> 01:02:04,720
a further 100 tonnes.

1147
01:02:04,720 --> 01:02:06,680
Oh, look at that!

1148
01:02:06,680 --> 01:02:08,520
But that is actually nothing

1149
01:02:08,520 --> 01:02:11,040
compared with what happened
to silver.

1150
01:02:11,040 --> 01:02:14,680
Because it is thought
that before the Columbus voyage,

1151
01:02:14,680 --> 01:02:19,000
the world's silver reserves
was 3,600 tonnes,

1152
01:02:19,000 --> 01:02:20,360
which is represented by...

1153
01:02:24,200 --> 01:02:25,920
There it is in silver scrap.

1154
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:28,760
How much do you think they extracted
from the New World?

1155
01:02:31,840 --> 01:02:33,560
Phwoar!

1156
01:02:36,080 --> 01:02:40,800
25,000 tonnes of silver.

1157
01:02:40,800 --> 01:02:43,960
For all Columbus's obsession
with gold,

1158
01:02:43,960 --> 01:02:47,120
it was silver
that changed the world.

1159
01:02:47,120 --> 01:02:51,600
This is what funded the building
of magnificent European cities,

1160
01:02:51,600 --> 01:02:55,440
a golden age - or silver age -
of art and literature

1161
01:02:55,440 --> 01:02:58,760
and the rise of European empires

1162
01:02:58,760 --> 01:03:01,640
which would go on to colonise
yet more lands.

1163
01:03:01,640 --> 01:03:04,760
Columbus's voyages
enriched the Old World

1164
01:03:04,760 --> 01:03:09,760
beyond their wildest dreams,
to the cost of the New World.

1165
01:03:14,680 --> 01:03:19,400
So, let's go back to the spot
whence he set off.

1166
01:03:19,400 --> 01:03:22,960
An obsessive map-botherer,
a crap navigator

1167
01:03:22,960 --> 01:03:25,320
and a bloodthirsty gold-looter

1168
01:03:25,320 --> 01:03:29,640
who took a punt on the trade winds
and changed both worlds forever.

1169
01:03:31,440 --> 01:03:34,440
I'm now charged with coming up
with some meaningful conclusions

1170
01:03:34,440 --> 01:03:37,280
about the voyages
of Christopher Columbus,

1171
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:40,680
which feels like a open goal
to self-cancellation.

1172
01:03:40,680 --> 01:03:42,440
Because for hundreds of years,

1173
01:03:42,440 --> 01:03:45,160
Columbus had
a sort of historical whitewash.

1174
01:03:45,160 --> 01:03:47,840
There were countless positive tomes
written about him.

1175
01:03:47,840 --> 01:03:52,480
He's got the little poem.
In 1934, he was granted his own day.

1176
01:03:54,280 --> 01:03:55,800
But in the last 50 years,

1177
01:03:55,800 --> 01:03:59,280
we've started to examine
these things a little more closely.

1178
01:03:59,280 --> 01:04:03,680
And over the last five years, we've
put them right under the microscope.

1179
01:04:03,680 --> 01:04:08,880
40 or so statues of Columbus
have been removed around the world.

1180
01:04:08,880 --> 01:04:10,840
But I think the way to approach this

1181
01:04:10,840 --> 01:04:13,920
is to look at it
through the lens of technology.

1182
01:04:13,920 --> 01:04:17,560
This statue was erected
to the courage of the navigator,

1183
01:04:17,560 --> 01:04:20,480
and, of course, once
the sailing ship had been invented,

1184
01:04:20,480 --> 01:04:22,440
it was going to happen.

1185
01:04:25,440 --> 01:04:28,160
To explore is an imperative.

1186
01:04:28,160 --> 01:04:30,120
It still is,
and we're still doing it.

1187
01:04:30,120 --> 01:04:31,640
We're going to do it into space.

1188
01:04:31,640 --> 01:04:34,000
We will do it
to the bottom of the ocean.

1189
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:36,840
Maybe the important thing is
that in the modern age,

1190
01:04:36,840 --> 01:04:39,880
we've become a little better
at exploring inwardly.

1191
01:04:41,080 --> 01:04:44,280
So, let's remember
that there are continents,

1192
01:04:44,280 --> 01:04:47,240
there are countries,
and there are peoples,

1193
01:04:47,240 --> 01:04:51,680
but there is only one humanity,
and it's work in progress.

1194
01:04:56,440 --> 01:04:58,280
'Next time...'

1195
01:04:58,280 --> 01:04:59,760
Good morning, m'luds.

1196
01:04:59,760 --> 01:05:01,440
'..Sir Walter Raleigh.'

1197
01:05:01,440 --> 01:05:03,720
Imagine making your way here.

1198
01:05:03,720 --> 01:05:04,920
You may position yourself

1199
01:05:04,920 --> 01:05:07,280
where you can vomit discreetly
into a flower bed.

1200
01:05:07,280 --> 01:05:11,320
This is medieval satnav
version 2.0 - a stick.

1201
01:05:11,320 --> 01:05:13,960
I've got no training,
I've had no practice,

1202
01:05:13,960 --> 01:05:15,680
I'm going to be busking it.

1203
01:05:15,680 --> 01:05:17,400
He touched the Queen?
Yeah, yeah.

1204
01:05:17,400 --> 01:05:18,640
Crikey.

1205
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:22,120
This is a Tudor license to kill.

1206
01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:23,880
CANNON BOOMS
Oh!

1207
01:05:23,880 --> 01:05:26,360
So much for the great explorer, eh?

1208
01:05:58,940 --> 01:06:03,440
This is the West Country of England,
famous for seafaring,

1209
01:06:03,440 --> 01:06:05,900
and, of course, for seafarers.

1210
01:06:05,900 --> 01:06:07,200
And out there, there has always been

1211
01:06:07,200 --> 01:06:09,120
the prospect of adventure
and discovery,

1212
01:06:09,120 --> 01:06:13,600
and quite possibly
fame and wealth to follow.

1213
01:06:13,600 --> 01:06:18,000
By the mid-16th century,
the New World was already on the map

1214
01:06:18,000 --> 01:06:23,600
and the Spanish Empire was sending
home galleons stuffed with treasure,

1215
01:06:23,600 --> 01:06:28,440
and that was all that one
young Devon lad could dream about.

1216
01:06:28,440 --> 01:06:33,080
This is the story of a man who rose
from a relatively obscure background

1217
01:06:33,080 --> 01:06:35,640
to dazzle Elizabethan England.

1218
01:06:35,640 --> 01:06:39,160
It's a story of deceit,
chicanery, flattery,

1219
01:06:39,160 --> 01:06:42,880
not to mention treachery and murder.

1220
01:06:42,880 --> 01:06:45,600
He's most famous for things
he didn't actually do.

1221
01:06:45,600 --> 01:06:49,400
But, hey, let's not let the facts
get in the way of a good story!

1222
01:06:49,400 --> 01:06:52,320
The story of Sir Walter Raleigh.

1223
01:06:54,080 --> 01:06:58,600
The age of the great explorers was
one of the most dramatic in history.

1224
01:06:58,600 --> 01:07:00,320
HE CHUCKLES

1225
01:07:00,320 --> 01:07:02,640
'When men risked their lives...'

1226
01:07:02,640 --> 01:07:04,480
Cast off and set sail...

1227
01:07:04,480 --> 01:07:06,840
Oh!
Take up on the peak.

1228
01:07:06,840 --> 01:07:09,200
Like that?
'..to seek new lands.'

1229
01:07:09,200 --> 01:07:11,480
We're somewhere
north of the dog's arse.

1230
01:07:11,480 --> 01:07:12,840
Where's the camera gone? Hello.

1231
01:07:12,840 --> 01:07:16,480
They crossed thousands of miles
of treacherous ocean.

1232
01:07:16,480 --> 01:07:20,080
They built floating fortresses.
They mapped the stars.

1233
01:07:20,080 --> 01:07:22,520
They developed whole new branches
of science.

1234
01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:24,880
Ew! Absolute pish.

1235
01:07:24,880 --> 01:07:29,480
'But were these explorers really
heroes or just a bunch of chancers?'

1236
01:07:29,480 --> 01:07:31,920
So, miracle he found
anything at all, really.

1237
01:07:31,920 --> 01:07:34,920
Completely made up.
Man was a charlatan.

1238
01:07:34,920 --> 01:07:37,280
'And is their legacy
one of triumph...'

1239
01:07:37,280 --> 01:07:38,960
Ah!

1240
01:07:38,960 --> 01:07:40,440
'..or destruction?'

1241
01:07:40,440 --> 01:07:44,200
Crikey.
Now it's turning a little bit dark.

1242
01:07:44,200 --> 01:07:46,760
'I'm doing a bit of discovering
of my own...'

1243
01:07:47,920 --> 01:07:52,760
Unbelievably terrible.
Medieval satnav, 2.0, a stick.

1244
01:07:52,760 --> 01:07:55,160
Oh, has he just shat on my trousers?

1245
01:07:55,160 --> 01:07:58,560
'..to learn how these explorers
conquered the oceans...'

1246
01:07:58,560 --> 01:07:59,840
Look at that.

1247
01:07:59,840 --> 01:08:01,120
I love it.

1248
01:08:01,120 --> 01:08:02,640
Nobody panic yet.

1249
01:08:02,640 --> 01:08:05,280
It's not just a map.
It's a weapon.

1250
01:08:05,280 --> 01:08:08,040
'..and changed the world forever.'

1251
01:08:08,040 --> 01:08:10,000
SHOUTS
Oh, gold!

1252
01:08:10,000 --> 01:08:13,000
If you were in the Navy now, the
French would definitely have got us.

1253
01:08:13,000 --> 01:08:14,360
HE LAUGHS

1254
01:08:30,240 --> 01:08:32,600
Before we set off on this story
properly,

1255
01:08:32,600 --> 01:08:35,440
I should first admit to a bit of
a soft spot for the name Raleigh,

1256
01:08:35,440 --> 01:08:38,920
because my first bicycle,
aged three,

1257
01:08:38,920 --> 01:08:44,000
was a Raleigh, a Raleigh Mayflower,
and I loved it.

1258
01:08:46,400 --> 01:08:48,040
Obviously, I grew bigger.

1259
01:08:48,040 --> 01:08:51,000
I made my way through
numerous Raleigh bicycles,

1260
01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:54,640
and I learned about Sir Walter,
and I liked the association

1261
01:08:54,640 --> 01:08:57,960
because my Raleighs
were the ways that I went off

1262
01:08:57,960 --> 01:09:00,320
on great voyages of discovery.

1263
01:09:00,320 --> 01:09:02,320
But by the time
I got to my Record Ace,

1264
01:09:02,320 --> 01:09:05,000
with its 12 speeds
and 531 frame,

1265
01:09:05,000 --> 01:09:09,320
I discovered that the bicycle
and the swashbuckler

1266
01:09:09,320 --> 01:09:12,000
are not in any way related.

1267
01:09:13,160 --> 01:09:16,160
And maybe this shattering
of my youthful fantasy

1268
01:09:16,160 --> 01:09:18,440
was a bit of a taste of things
to come,

1269
01:09:18,440 --> 01:09:20,120
because it turns out that

1270
01:09:20,120 --> 01:09:25,360
the true story of Sir Walter Raleigh
is quite difficult to pin down.

1271
01:09:27,800 --> 01:09:31,640
In popular legend, Raleigh cuts
a rather dashing figure,

1272
01:09:31,640 --> 01:09:36,040
throwing his cloak over a puddle
for Queen Elizabeth I,

1273
01:09:36,040 --> 01:09:38,600
penning great tomes of poetry
and prose,

1274
01:09:38,600 --> 01:09:42,120
and gallivanting off
on adventures to the New World.

1275
01:09:43,440 --> 01:09:47,160
We're told he created
England's first American colony,

1276
01:09:47,160 --> 01:09:53,240
kickstarting the British Empire, and
brought home tobacco and potatoes.

1277
01:09:53,240 --> 01:09:56,800
It's enough
to make anyone a national hero,

1278
01:09:56,800 --> 01:09:59,680
but I suspect a lot of it
might be utter bollocks.

1279
01:09:59,680 --> 01:10:02,560
How much of the Raleigh folklore
is actually true?

1280
01:10:02,560 --> 01:10:05,520
Let's start with what we do know.

1281
01:10:05,520 --> 01:10:09,920
Around 1553, Walter Raleigh was born
here in this house

1282
01:10:09,920 --> 01:10:13,040
just outside the Devon village
of East Budleigh.

1283
01:10:13,040 --> 01:10:15,600
Now, the family
had been wealthy landowners

1284
01:10:15,600 --> 01:10:17,480
with a massive manor house
and what have you,

1285
01:10:17,480 --> 01:10:20,000
but they'd fallen on hard times.

1286
01:10:20,000 --> 01:10:24,400
And to make things worse,
Walter was the fifth of five sons,

1287
01:10:24,400 --> 01:10:26,600
so there was
no inheritance coming his way.

1288
01:10:27,800 --> 01:10:32,120
'So how did this Devonshire lad
go from country bumpkin...'

1289
01:10:32,120 --> 01:10:33,480
That's very quaint.

1290
01:10:33,480 --> 01:10:36,440
'..to one of the
most powerful men in England

1291
01:10:36,440 --> 01:10:38,480
'and an intrepid explorer?'

1292
01:10:38,480 --> 01:10:40,960
This is all uphill, you bastards!

1293
01:10:43,720 --> 01:10:45,840
Step one, go to war.

1294
01:10:45,840 --> 01:10:48,720
17-year-old Raleigh,
an ardent Protestant,

1295
01:10:48,720 --> 01:10:51,160
went to fight the Catholics
in France

1296
01:10:51,160 --> 01:10:54,120
and proved himself a worthy soldier,

1297
01:10:54,120 --> 01:10:57,360
willing to die
for the Protestant cause.

1298
01:10:57,360 --> 01:10:59,680
But young Raleigh was ambitious.

1299
01:10:59,680 --> 01:11:02,240
He wanted wealth, influence,

1300
01:11:02,240 --> 01:11:06,200
and the glory of asserting
England's power overseas.

1301
01:11:06,200 --> 01:11:09,000
For that,
he needed to win favour

1302
01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:11,960
at the royal court
of Queen Elizabeth I...

1303
01:11:13,280 --> 01:11:17,160
..and the wily Walter
knew just how to get there.

1304
01:11:17,160 --> 01:11:21,000
In 1574, he came here,
and the things he would learn

1305
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:25,560
would change his fortune
and the course of world history.

1306
01:11:27,400 --> 01:11:30,240
Now, as you can tell
from this important music,

1307
01:11:30,240 --> 01:11:32,480
we are at an important location.

1308
01:11:33,920 --> 01:11:38,320
Middle Temple in the heart
of London's Inns Of Court.

1309
01:11:38,320 --> 01:11:42,920
It was, and still is, where the
brightest student barristers

1310
01:11:42,920 --> 01:11:47,800
honed their skills in front of
the country's top legal minds.

1311
01:11:47,800 --> 01:11:50,160
Good morning, m'luds.

1312
01:11:50,160 --> 01:11:52,920
Probably should have
brushed my hair.

1313
01:11:52,920 --> 01:11:58,520
This place has resonated
to over 500 years of rhetoric,

1314
01:11:58,520 --> 01:12:01,720
the art of presenting
a compelling argument.

1315
01:12:01,720 --> 01:12:04,400
A cornerstone, really,
of the English legal system,

1316
01:12:04,400 --> 01:12:07,080
which is really
just the ultimate battle of wits

1317
01:12:07,080 --> 01:12:11,480
between barristers,
prosecution versus defence.

1318
01:12:11,480 --> 01:12:15,880
It's also a stark reminder to stay
on the right side of the law,

1319
01:12:15,880 --> 01:12:18,440
because you really don't wanna
go up against an institution

1320
01:12:18,440 --> 01:12:22,680
that can produce this much
wood carving and portraiture.

1321
01:12:26,320 --> 01:12:29,960
But Raleigh wasn't here
to become a bigwig m'lud.

1322
01:12:29,960 --> 01:12:34,720
He was here to learn the skills he'd
need to stalk the corridors of power

1323
01:12:34,720 --> 01:12:36,520
and talk his way to the top,

1324
01:12:36,520 --> 01:12:38,040
skills that barrister

1325
01:12:38,040 --> 01:12:41,520
and King's Counsel Benet Brandreth
teaches today.

1326
01:12:41,520 --> 01:12:45,280
The Inns Of Court were not just
great places for learning.

1327
01:12:45,280 --> 01:12:48,160
Sometimes described at that time
as the third University of England

1328
01:12:48,160 --> 01:12:49,600
alongside Oxford and Cambridge,

1329
01:12:49,600 --> 01:12:52,760
they were also incredible
networking opportunities.

1330
01:12:52,760 --> 01:12:56,840
So, Raleigh coming here was because
he wanted to learn the techniques

1331
01:12:56,840 --> 01:12:59,120
of having influence
at the very highest level?

1332
01:12:59,120 --> 01:13:00,160
Absolutely.

1333
01:13:00,160 --> 01:13:03,760
Raleigh was schooled here
in rhetoric,

1334
01:13:03,760 --> 01:13:08,160
and his mastery of it
would shape his entire life.

1335
01:13:08,160 --> 01:13:10,640
It's all about
how to win an argument,

1336
01:13:10,640 --> 01:13:14,520
so listen up because it might be
handy next time you're down the pub.

1337
01:13:14,520 --> 01:13:18,160
Rhetoric is the art of
discerning in any particular topic

1338
01:13:18,160 --> 01:13:20,640
the available means of persuasion.

1339
01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:24,480
It's about the power of language
to move the minds of others.

1340
01:13:24,480 --> 01:13:29,040
And to learn it, Raleigh studied
writings from Ancient Greece.

1341
01:13:29,040 --> 01:13:32,440
Aristotle first codified
all the means of persuasion,

1342
01:13:32,440 --> 01:13:34,800
the modes of persuasion,
into three groups.

1343
01:13:34,800 --> 01:13:37,400
So, ethos are the arguments
from authority.

1344
01:13:37,400 --> 01:13:40,000
Why should I listen
to this person on this topic?

1345
01:13:40,000 --> 01:13:41,880
Then you've got logos, the facts.

1346
01:13:41,880 --> 01:13:44,240
It's the ruthless statistics
and the logic.

1347
01:13:44,240 --> 01:13:48,640
And then we have pathos.
Pathos is the argument from emotion.

1348
01:13:48,640 --> 01:13:51,720
OK. Ethos, logos, pathos.
Exactly.

1349
01:13:53,000 --> 01:13:58,360
To demonstrate how Raleigh honed
his skills, we need a good debate.

1350
01:13:58,360 --> 01:14:01,840
Top barrister Benet
will go head-to-head with...

1351
01:14:01,840 --> 01:14:06,680
me, a sheer novice
who's absolutely winging it.

1352
01:14:06,680 --> 01:14:09,440
I've gotta think in terms
of my ethos, logos, pathos...

1353
01:14:09,440 --> 01:14:12,200
Yeah, but you have the gold there,
you have the core.

1354
01:14:12,200 --> 01:14:15,120
Why should I be heard?
Why am I right?

1355
01:14:15,120 --> 01:14:16,880
Well, I am right.
Does it matter?

1356
01:14:16,880 --> 01:14:19,240
That confidence is excellent.
There you go.

1357
01:14:19,240 --> 01:14:21,200
The question is,
how can you convey that confidence?

1358
01:14:21,200 --> 01:14:23,600
OK. Can I have
ten minutes to think about that?

1359
01:14:23,600 --> 01:14:25,440
By all means.
Thank you.

1360
01:14:25,440 --> 01:14:30,120
The power to persuade was a crucial
skill in the Elizabethan age.

1361
01:14:30,120 --> 01:14:33,440
Get it right and you could win
the ear of the Queen.

1362
01:14:33,440 --> 01:14:36,560
Get it wrong
and you could lose your head.

1363
01:14:36,560 --> 01:14:37,920
It's a bit daunting, this,

1364
01:14:37,920 --> 01:14:41,080
because obviously I've got
no training, I've had no practice,

1365
01:14:41,080 --> 01:14:43,600
and I've had no real time
to think about my arguments

1366
01:14:43,600 --> 01:14:45,360
so I'm going to be busking it,

1367
01:14:45,360 --> 01:14:48,400
which I think is not
an accepted practice in law.

1368
01:14:51,560 --> 01:14:56,120
Time to enter the debating chamber
where Raleigh's future was moulded.

1369
01:14:57,960 --> 01:15:00,880
And as if the rows of portraits
and coats of arms

1370
01:15:00,880 --> 01:15:03,080
weren't intimidating enough...

1371
01:15:04,560 --> 01:15:09,600
..my rhetoric skills
will be judged by these three -

1372
01:15:09,600 --> 01:15:12,880
a board of top Middle Temple
barristers.

1373
01:15:12,880 --> 01:15:14,920
Gulp!

1374
01:15:14,920 --> 01:15:19,320
The debate is,
is the pen mightier than the sword?

1375
01:15:19,320 --> 01:15:22,960
And we will start
with the argument for the sword.

1376
01:15:22,960 --> 01:15:25,440
Right, so we're actually
going to just do this for real?

1377
01:15:25,440 --> 01:15:27,760
Let's do this for real. Yes.
What shall I talk about? OK.

1378
01:15:29,320 --> 01:15:33,080
Well, I'm positively ululating
with the facts at my fingertips

1379
01:15:33,080 --> 01:15:36,720
and my extensive research.
I dismiss the pen.

1380
01:15:36,720 --> 01:15:39,080
I mean, I refute it thus,

1381
01:15:39,080 --> 01:15:43,080
as evinced by my failure to bring
any notes or a notebook of any type.

1382
01:15:43,080 --> 01:15:46,680
The privilege of writing
what we all perceive to be the truth

1383
01:15:46,680 --> 01:15:50,520
is gifted from history
by people who have used swords.

1384
01:15:50,520 --> 01:15:54,920
And I give you the example
above your heads of Charles I,

1385
01:15:54,920 --> 01:15:57,680
whose head was severed
from his body, if not by a sword,

1386
01:15:57,680 --> 01:16:00,440
at least by a bladed weapon.

1387
01:16:00,440 --> 01:16:01,760
And I have a minute left,

1388
01:16:01,760 --> 01:16:03,440
but to be brutally honest,
I'm spent.

1389
01:16:03,440 --> 01:16:04,840
'That went well.'

1390
01:16:04,840 --> 01:16:07,040
And now the argument for the pen.

1391
01:16:08,080 --> 01:16:11,520
My lord, my ladies,
though I have been both a soldier

1392
01:16:11,520 --> 01:16:15,000
and a barrister,
it is the pen that I chiefly know.

1393
01:16:15,000 --> 01:16:17,840
I confess I did not hear
my learned opponent indicate

1394
01:16:17,840 --> 01:16:20,280
what experience
he had of the sword at all.

1395
01:16:20,280 --> 01:16:24,680
'I'm doomed.'
A sword can destroy a life,

1396
01:16:24,680 --> 01:16:28,400
but a pen can destroy
a whole way of life.

1397
01:16:28,400 --> 01:16:33,800
A sword can only destroy,
but a pen can build whole worlds,

1398
01:16:33,800 --> 01:16:36,120
whether in fiction
or through philosophy.

1399
01:16:36,120 --> 01:16:39,360
And I ask you, in your own lives,

1400
01:16:39,360 --> 01:16:43,600
which has been the more important,
the sword or the pen?

1401
01:16:44,600 --> 01:16:47,200
He's done this before!
LAUGHING

1402
01:16:50,800 --> 01:16:53,440
We have decided that the pen has it.

1403
01:16:53,440 --> 01:16:56,560
A pox upon me. But they
would say that, wouldn't they?

1404
01:16:56,560 --> 01:17:00,440
I just thought that might be
something an Elizabethan might say.

1405
01:17:00,440 --> 01:17:04,200
Right, Benet, I'll see you outside.
Bring your pen.

1406
01:17:04,200 --> 01:17:05,160
CHUCKLING

1407
01:17:08,560 --> 01:17:13,400
Well, OK, I lost at debating
to a man who does it for a living,

1408
01:17:13,400 --> 01:17:15,760
but at least
this exercise has shown us

1409
01:17:15,760 --> 01:17:20,320
that our Sir Walter was an absolute
master of the art of persuasion

1410
01:17:20,320 --> 01:17:22,760
through words. I think he once said,

1411
01:17:22,760 --> 01:17:25,720
"Men's fortunes are oftener
made by their tongues

1412
01:17:25,720 --> 01:17:28,560
"than by their virtues."

1413
01:17:28,560 --> 01:17:30,360
That's exactly
what I would have said.

1414
01:17:31,880 --> 01:17:35,040
As it turned out, though,
Raleigh would use both the pen

1415
01:17:35,040 --> 01:17:37,880
and the sword to get to the top.

1416
01:17:37,880 --> 01:17:41,120
Now, if you've ever lost a pub quiz,
it might be

1417
01:17:41,120 --> 01:17:45,120
because one of the questions was,
what was England's first colony?

1418
01:17:45,120 --> 01:17:47,480
And you put North America.

1419
01:17:47,480 --> 01:17:51,960
Wrong because England's and
Raleigh's first colonial ambitions

1420
01:17:51,960 --> 01:17:55,600
were visited on a country
right next door.

1421
01:17:56,800 --> 01:18:01,120
England's invasion of Ireland
had started in the 12th century,

1422
01:18:01,120 --> 01:18:03,240
and by the late 1570s,

1423
01:18:03,240 --> 01:18:06,560
the Irish were really pretty
BLEEP off with it.

1424
01:18:06,560 --> 01:18:09,720
An Irish rebellion rose
against the Queen's forces,

1425
01:18:09,720 --> 01:18:12,960
and she wanted
some soldiers to crush it.

1426
01:18:12,960 --> 01:18:14,960
So our Walter, of course,
interpreted this

1427
01:18:14,960 --> 01:18:19,360
as an excellent opportunity
for a scrap with some Catholics.

1428
01:18:19,360 --> 01:18:23,040
He used his influence and his
connections to raise a detachment

1429
01:18:23,040 --> 01:18:26,960
to quell the rebellion and turn
Ireland into a subservient colony.

1430
01:18:28,840 --> 01:18:31,200
At this point,
I'm afraid the image

1431
01:18:31,200 --> 01:18:36,040
of our witty and urbane national
hero takes a bit of a beating,

1432
01:18:36,040 --> 01:18:39,080
because at the Siege Of Smerwick
in 1580,

1433
01:18:39,080 --> 01:18:42,000
he personally oversaw the massacre

1434
01:18:42,000 --> 01:18:47,080
of 600 soldiers, women and children.

1435
01:18:47,080 --> 01:18:50,920
Rather depressingly,
this was not unusual behaviour

1436
01:18:50,920 --> 01:18:52,680
for Tudor English soldiers.

1437
01:18:52,680 --> 01:18:56,600
Elizabeth quietly approved,
and it got Raleigh noticed.

1438
01:18:57,960 --> 01:19:01,600
He composed some rhetoric-filled
letters to the Queen's minions,

1439
01:19:01,600 --> 01:19:07,960
and in 1581 was invited to court
to discuss the conduct of the war.

1440
01:19:07,960 --> 01:19:11,760
This was his shot at the big time.

1441
01:19:12,960 --> 01:19:16,120
Welcome back, viewers, to 1581,

1442
01:19:16,120 --> 01:19:19,680
and a momentous time
in Walter Raleigh's life.

1443
01:19:19,680 --> 01:19:24,920
So momentous, in fact, I'm spinning
in circles with sheer excitement.

1444
01:19:26,360 --> 01:19:30,080
Imagine beginning your life
in sleepy little East Budleigh,

1445
01:19:30,080 --> 01:19:33,480
but then making your way here
to Hampton Court Palace,

1446
01:19:33,480 --> 01:19:36,120
the sometime seat
of supreme English power,

1447
01:19:36,120 --> 01:19:38,880
the court of Elizabeth I.

1448
01:19:38,880 --> 01:19:41,440
If a social media meme
had existed at the time,

1449
01:19:41,440 --> 01:19:45,360
it would have been something like,
"How it started, how it's going."

1450
01:19:47,400 --> 01:19:51,160
'The Virgin Queen, by now
on the throne for over 20 years,

1451
01:19:51,160 --> 01:19:55,720
'had started funding voyages
of exploration to the New World.'

1452
01:19:55,720 --> 01:19:58,120
I keep walking...

1453
01:19:58,120 --> 01:20:01,320
'For a young, dashing upstart -
no, not me, Raleigh -

1454
01:20:01,320 --> 01:20:04,280
'power, influence and cash
for expeditions

1455
01:20:04,280 --> 01:20:08,160
'were there for the taking,
if you played your cards right.'

1456
01:20:08,160 --> 01:20:09,680
I'm still going.

1457
01:20:10,880 --> 01:20:14,600
'Because I am but a lowly commoner
to navigate this royal minefield,

1458
01:20:14,600 --> 01:20:17,040
'I need some insider help...'

1459
01:20:17,040 --> 01:20:18,320
It's beautiful.

1460
01:20:18,320 --> 01:20:20,800
It smells of old stuff, doesn't it?

1461
01:20:20,800 --> 01:20:24,880
'..from Tudor expert
Dr Joanne Paul.'

1462
01:20:24,880 --> 01:20:27,880
Would our Walter have come in here?
Oh, probably. Probably.

1463
01:20:27,880 --> 01:20:30,640
This is where the court,
when they were at Hampton Court,

1464
01:20:30,640 --> 01:20:33,920
would celebrate the mass,
and everyone was expected to attend.

1465
01:20:33,920 --> 01:20:38,920
But Elizabeth would have been
up there looking down at everyone.

1466
01:20:38,920 --> 01:20:41,280
Her Royal Pew was glassed off,

1467
01:20:41,280 --> 01:20:45,160
and she had little, sort of, windows
that she could open to listen.

1468
01:20:45,160 --> 01:20:48,680
She was reading letters,
conducting royal business up there

1469
01:20:48,680 --> 01:20:49,760
during the mass.

1470
01:20:49,760 --> 01:20:52,640
So you have Elizabeth up there

1471
01:20:52,640 --> 01:20:57,040
behind a piece of glass doing
the crossword or whatever... Yes!

1472
01:20:57,040 --> 01:20:59,320
..but she can at any moment
make decisions about,

1473
01:20:59,320 --> 01:21:00,720
"Yes, you can have some money.

1474
01:21:00,720 --> 01:21:02,680
"No, you can't have a head anymore."

1475
01:21:02,680 --> 01:21:05,080
Um, and then she receives complaints

1476
01:21:05,080 --> 01:21:07,720
like, "The Earl of Walsingham
called me a bellend," or whatever.

1477
01:21:07,720 --> 01:21:11,240
And this all goes on in here?
Absolutely.

1478
01:21:11,240 --> 01:21:14,480
Can we actually go up there?
I think we can.

1479
01:21:17,280 --> 01:21:20,400
For Raleigh,
this was the ultimate goal -

1480
01:21:20,400 --> 01:21:23,360
climbing the staircase
to courtly success.

1481
01:21:23,360 --> 01:21:27,880
This is the Royal Pew.
It's very exclusive.

1482
01:21:27,880 --> 01:21:29,440
It's very intimate.

1483
01:21:29,440 --> 01:21:31,440
This was a personal monarchy,

1484
01:21:31,440 --> 01:21:36,240
which meant that physical proximity
to the monarch was power.

1485
01:21:36,240 --> 01:21:38,760
That was how you rose in the court.

1486
01:21:38,760 --> 01:21:40,400
And looking down,

1487
01:21:40,400 --> 01:21:42,800
imagine
it's like a high school cafeteria.

1488
01:21:42,800 --> 01:21:46,600
You've got your different cliques
down there. You've got your poets.

1489
01:21:46,600 --> 01:21:49,720
You've got your jousters,
your explorers.

1490
01:21:49,720 --> 01:21:53,800
And Raleigh's gotta find his seat
at one of these tables.

1491
01:21:53,800 --> 01:21:57,080
I bet he goes for the explorers.
Do you think?

1492
01:21:57,080 --> 01:21:58,480
Yeah.

1493
01:21:58,480 --> 01:22:00,120
And might you be invited up?

1494
01:22:00,120 --> 01:22:04,040
I mean, might you say,
"Come hither, boy"?

1495
01:22:04,040 --> 01:22:06,400
Yeah. She might send down
one of her ladies, for instance,

1496
01:22:06,400 --> 01:22:10,000
to bring someone up. And of course,
you'd have to genuflect

1497
01:22:10,000 --> 01:22:13,600
and do all the etiquette things
in order to impress her.

1498
01:22:13,600 --> 01:22:15,120
And everyone would see you go up,
right,

1499
01:22:15,120 --> 01:22:18,080
that would be a huge mark of favour.

1500
01:22:18,080 --> 01:22:19,600
Massive points, isn't it?
Yeah.

1501
01:22:19,600 --> 01:22:21,560
Huge bragging rights.

1502
01:22:21,560 --> 01:22:24,600
"He's been summoned up
to the Queen's pew."

1503
01:22:24,600 --> 01:22:27,080
Wowzers! It must have been
quite scary, actually.

1504
01:22:27,080 --> 01:22:30,040
I once had to go and see
the Director-General of the BBC,

1505
01:22:30,040 --> 01:22:32,560
and I sort of polished my shoes
on the back of my trousers a bit.

1506
01:22:32,560 --> 01:22:36,320
But imagine going
to see, effectively, God. Yes.

1507
01:22:36,320 --> 01:22:39,800
'Now that Raleigh
had an audience with the Queen,

1508
01:22:39,800 --> 01:22:42,200
'he had to make an impression.'

1509
01:22:42,200 --> 01:22:44,720
It's chuffing freezing
in the rose garden, isn't it?

1510
01:22:44,720 --> 01:22:45,680
Yeah.
God!

1511
01:22:45,680 --> 01:22:47,000
For Elizabeth,

1512
01:22:47,000 --> 01:22:52,120
part of holding power was holding
the hearts of her courtiers.

1513
01:22:52,120 --> 01:22:54,840
They were meant to be
in love with her.

1514
01:22:56,200 --> 01:22:59,040
How did the young Walter Raleigh

1515
01:22:59,040 --> 01:23:01,080
secure an audience
in the rose garden?

1516
01:23:01,080 --> 01:23:04,400
The story goes that he put his cape
over a puddle for her,

1517
01:23:04,400 --> 01:23:06,760
but that probably never happened.

1518
01:23:06,760 --> 01:23:10,200
It seems that they were writing
very soon after he arrived,

1519
01:23:10,200 --> 01:23:12,560
and he was spending
a lot of time with her.

1520
01:23:12,560 --> 01:23:15,520
Other men in the court
must have been a bit "jelly"

1521
01:23:15,520 --> 01:23:18,080
of Walter Raleigh cos he was
getting all the Queen's attention.

1522
01:23:18,080 --> 01:23:21,800
Absolutely, yeah.
His rivals were really annoyed,

1523
01:23:21,800 --> 01:23:25,760
and he was rising
as her new favourite very quickly.

1524
01:23:25,760 --> 01:23:28,520
And writing poetry.
And writing poetry.

1525
01:23:28,520 --> 01:23:31,440
Despite a 20-year age gap,

1526
01:23:31,440 --> 01:23:35,000
young Walter wasn't satisfied
with just having the Queen's ear.

1527
01:23:35,000 --> 01:23:37,800
He wanted to win her heart, too.

1528
01:23:37,800 --> 01:23:42,960
I have come armed with some of the
rapier-like poesy of Walter Raleigh.

1529
01:23:42,960 --> 01:23:45,240
You may want to position yourself
where you can vomit

1530
01:23:45,240 --> 01:23:46,680
discreetly into a flower bed.

1531
01:23:46,680 --> 01:23:48,640
"Fortune hath taken away my love,

1532
01:23:48,640 --> 01:23:51,280
"My life's joy
and my soul's heaven above.

1533
01:23:51,280 --> 01:23:54,480
"Fortune hath taken thee away,
my princess,

1534
01:23:54,480 --> 01:23:57,800
"My world's joy
And my true fantasy's mistress."

1535
01:23:57,800 --> 01:24:00,520
There you go. This is like
some lovestruck teenager.

1536
01:24:00,520 --> 01:24:03,080
This is Elizabeth's rejoinder.
Right.

1537
01:24:03,080 --> 01:24:06,000
"Ah, silly pug, wert thou so afraid?

1538
01:24:06,000 --> 01:24:09,960
"Mourn not, my Wat,
nor be thou so dismayed

1539
01:24:09,960 --> 01:24:12,640
"It passeth fickle fortune's
power and skill

1540
01:24:12,640 --> 01:24:15,840
"To force my heart
to think thee any ill."

1541
01:24:15,840 --> 01:24:19,320
Oh, very nice, very nice.
He is well and truly dismissed.

1542
01:24:19,320 --> 01:24:22,280
Do you know, I used to write poems
to people when I was, uh,

1543
01:24:22,280 --> 01:24:25,040
a much younger man.
Were they better than this?

1544
01:24:25,040 --> 01:24:29,000
To be honest, I think some of them
were, but I never got one back.

1545
01:24:29,000 --> 01:24:30,040
Oh!
So you see,

1546
01:24:30,040 --> 01:24:31,920
He's already doing quite well,
isn't he? Yes.

1547
01:24:31,920 --> 01:24:35,200
What actually made the Queen
fall for Walter Raleigh?

1548
01:24:35,200 --> 01:24:37,920
Because, to be brutally frank,
he's not that good.

1549
01:24:37,920 --> 01:24:39,840
He's a bit birthday card-ish.

1550
01:24:39,840 --> 01:24:42,200
Yeah,
I don't think it was the poetry.

1551
01:24:42,200 --> 01:24:44,640
I think he was a bit rough,
a bit rugged.

1552
01:24:44,640 --> 01:24:47,760
But most importantly,
he was a very frank speaker.

1553
01:24:47,760 --> 01:24:49,640
He spoke very directly to the Queen,

1554
01:24:49,640 --> 01:24:52,400
but in a way that
she could kind of get on board

1555
01:24:52,400 --> 01:24:55,720
with these wild things
that he was saying.

1556
01:24:55,720 --> 01:24:59,200
The Queen became so enamoured
with the handsome Raleigh

1557
01:24:59,200 --> 01:25:03,120
that their racy behaviour
almost caused a scandal.

1558
01:25:03,120 --> 01:25:06,680
Warning, please cover the ears
of any children in the room now.

1559
01:25:06,680 --> 01:25:09,880
When Raleigh was invited over
to sit with her,

1560
01:25:09,880 --> 01:25:14,880
and he sits down and the Queen
moves to rub some dirt off his face,

1561
01:25:14,880 --> 01:25:17,640
which is a very intimate thing
to do. God, yes.

1562
01:25:17,640 --> 01:25:20,320
And what's worse
is that Raleigh stops her hand

1563
01:25:20,320 --> 01:25:22,200
and wipes it off himself.

1564
01:25:22,200 --> 01:25:26,200
He touched the Queen. Yeah.
And stops her in what she was doing.

1565
01:25:26,200 --> 01:25:28,640
And she could have said,
"Off with his head" at that point.

1566
01:25:28,640 --> 01:25:31,480
But she didn't. No.
She was absolutely fine with it.

1567
01:25:31,480 --> 01:25:34,400
All that sizzling romantic tension

1568
01:25:34,400 --> 01:25:37,320
made Raleigh
Elizabeth's new favourite,

1569
01:25:37,320 --> 01:25:40,720
and it was about to pay off,
literally.

1570
01:25:40,720 --> 01:25:45,200
The boy Walter done good. The Queen
gifted him a mansion in Dorset

1571
01:25:45,200 --> 01:25:47,560
and the poshest house in London,

1572
01:25:47,560 --> 01:25:51,960
and monopolies on wine
and woollen cloth.

1573
01:25:51,960 --> 01:25:54,840
He was made
Lord Warden of the Stannaries,

1574
01:25:54,840 --> 01:25:57,400
that is, all the tin mines
in the West Country,

1575
01:25:57,400 --> 01:26:00,240
and captain of the Queen's Guard.

1576
01:26:00,240 --> 01:26:03,200
Oh, and he was also gifted
40,000 acres

1577
01:26:03,200 --> 01:26:05,280
of other people's land in Ireland,

1578
01:26:05,280 --> 01:26:08,640
which he promptly turned into
a very lucrative plantation.

1579
01:26:08,640 --> 01:26:10,600
The Devon boy had arrived.

1580
01:26:10,600 --> 01:26:15,240
However, there was a vital piece
of paper standing between him

1581
01:26:15,240 --> 01:26:20,240
and changing the course of England's
and the world's history forever.

1582
01:26:21,600 --> 01:26:24,360
Walks off mysteriously.

1583
01:26:24,360 --> 01:26:29,480
Vast wealth, tick.
The Queen's ear, tick.

1584
01:26:29,480 --> 01:26:33,240
Now the West Country lad
could tackle his greatest ambition -

1585
01:26:33,240 --> 01:26:36,240
becoming an explorer.

1586
01:26:36,240 --> 01:26:38,720
But for English seafarers
at the time,

1587
01:26:38,720 --> 01:26:43,560
the line between exploration
and piracy was a very blurred one,

1588
01:26:43,560 --> 01:26:47,000
and Raleigh had a distant cousin
who knew all about that,

1589
01:26:47,000 --> 01:26:51,840
fellow Devon lad and captain of
the most famous English voyage yet,

1590
01:26:51,840 --> 01:26:53,680
Sir Francis Drake.

1591
01:26:53,680 --> 01:26:56,240
This is a replica of his ship,

1592
01:26:56,240 --> 01:26:58,160
the Golden Hind,
the first English ship

1593
01:26:58,160 --> 01:27:00,760
to circumnavigate the globe,
and of such repute

1594
01:27:00,760 --> 01:27:04,600
that it was also the subject
of the first ever Airfix model.

1595
01:27:04,600 --> 01:27:07,080
Anyway, that circumnavigation
at the time

1596
01:27:07,080 --> 01:27:10,240
was billed as a voyage of discovery
of learning.

1597
01:27:10,240 --> 01:27:13,360
In actual fact, it was a raid
because Drake sailed off

1598
01:27:13,360 --> 01:27:17,800
round the western side of South
America, looting Spanish gold.

1599
01:27:17,800 --> 01:27:20,680
Drake not only returned with

1600
01:27:20,680 --> 01:27:23,440
around half a billion pounds'
worth of loot,

1601
01:27:23,440 --> 01:27:25,800
he earned himself a knighthood.

1602
01:27:27,120 --> 01:27:31,520
For the younger, ambitious Raleigh,
this was a man to aspire to,

1603
01:27:31,520 --> 01:27:34,720
but first he'd have to tackle
some English bureaucracy,

1604
01:27:34,720 --> 01:27:37,120
because if you wanted to discover
new lands

1605
01:27:37,120 --> 01:27:41,480
and plunder Spanish ships en route,
you needed a permit.

1606
01:27:41,480 --> 01:27:43,080
This is what you needed -

1607
01:27:43,080 --> 01:27:46,880
a chitty, a docket,
a letter from the Queen.

1608
01:27:46,880 --> 01:27:52,000
There is her name writ large, giving
you permission as a privateer,

1609
01:27:52,000 --> 01:27:57,600
ie, a state sponsored pirate,
to loot any ship or raid any port,

1610
01:27:57,600 --> 01:28:01,040
providing they were owned
by enemies of the Crown.

1611
01:28:01,040 --> 01:28:06,360
This is a Tudor licence to kill,
and any loot collected

1612
01:28:06,360 --> 01:28:10,400
would be split between the privateer
and the Queen herself.

1613
01:28:10,400 --> 01:28:12,960
Now, the Queen issued these
in some secrecy,

1614
01:28:12,960 --> 01:28:17,360
usually through her counsel, because
that way if the voyage was a success

1615
01:28:17,360 --> 01:28:20,120
and she got some more treasure,
she could go hurrah for England!

1616
01:28:20,120 --> 01:28:24,040
But if it went wrong, if it caused,
for example, a war with Spain,

1617
01:28:24,040 --> 01:28:26,640
she could completely
distance herself from it.

1618
01:28:26,640 --> 01:28:29,000
Raleigh wanted a piece of all this,

1619
01:28:29,000 --> 01:28:33,240
and he also had a much bigger prize
for the Queen in mind.

1620
01:28:34,400 --> 01:28:39,000
Raleigh knew the perfect spot
to capture a Spanish treasure ship.

1621
01:28:39,000 --> 01:28:44,160
By now, Spain had conquered much of
the Caribbean and Central America.

1622
01:28:44,160 --> 01:28:47,320
Their ships' holds,
bursting with gold and silver,

1623
01:28:47,320 --> 01:28:49,840
would travel north up
the American coast

1624
01:28:49,840 --> 01:28:53,480
before catching the trade winds
home to Europe.

1625
01:28:53,480 --> 01:28:57,880
Raleigh wanted to capitalise on this
by setting up a piracy HQ

1626
01:28:57,880 --> 01:29:02,400
in North America, from which
he could launch his attacks.

1627
01:29:02,400 --> 01:29:06,720
This was a golden opportunity
for Walter, quite literally.

1628
01:29:06,720 --> 01:29:08,400
A new world base would give him

1629
01:29:08,400 --> 01:29:11,720
freedom to plunder
as many Spanish ships as he wanted,

1630
01:29:11,720 --> 01:29:16,120
and he could also provide land,
people and souls for his queen

1631
01:29:16,120 --> 01:29:18,720
to baptise in the Protestant faith.

1632
01:29:18,720 --> 01:29:23,240
It would be England's first
New World colony.

1633
01:29:23,240 --> 01:29:26,440
Raleigh had a plan
and he had a patent.

1634
01:29:28,280 --> 01:29:34,080
All that stood in his way
was 3,500 miles of open ocean.

1635
01:29:35,640 --> 01:29:39,000
You rejoin us, viewers, in 1584,

1636
01:29:39,000 --> 01:29:41,960
a very exciting time
for Walter Raleigh.

1637
01:29:41,960 --> 01:29:43,800
He's won a permit from the Queen

1638
01:29:43,800 --> 01:29:48,200
to establish
England's first New World colony.

1639
01:29:48,200 --> 01:29:50,880
But how's he going to find his way
to the right spot?

1640
01:29:50,880 --> 01:29:54,640
3,500 miles across the Atlantic,

1641
01:29:54,640 --> 01:29:59,200
in a time of rather rudimentary
navigational know-how.

1642
01:29:59,200 --> 01:30:02,320
"Second star on the right
and straight on till morning."

1643
01:30:02,320 --> 01:30:06,160
Those were Peter Pan's instructions
for reaching Neverland.

1644
01:30:06,160 --> 01:30:09,480
And to be honest, up until the
invention of satnav in the 1990s,

1645
01:30:09,480 --> 01:30:12,560
navigation at sea
was pretty much like that.

1646
01:30:12,560 --> 01:30:14,640
It's that time in the programme

1647
01:30:14,640 --> 01:30:17,760
when we get in a boat
and do some sailing.

1648
01:30:17,760 --> 01:30:19,760
Permission to come aboard, skipper.

1649
01:30:19,760 --> 01:30:22,120
Our task is to test

1650
01:30:22,120 --> 01:30:25,680
the leading navigational instruments
of Raleigh's day.

1651
01:30:25,680 --> 01:30:28,720
And the most common device
at the time

1652
01:30:28,720 --> 01:30:31,800
was one that had been around
since antiquity.

1653
01:30:33,040 --> 01:30:35,400
It's called an astrolabe.
Normally made of brass,

1654
01:30:35,400 --> 01:30:38,840
this is a laser-cut wooden replica
made for us by Alan,

1655
01:30:38,840 --> 01:30:40,840
who is our vintage
navigation correspondent.

1656
01:30:40,840 --> 01:30:42,400
It's like a miniature map
of the heavens

1657
01:30:42,400 --> 01:30:44,320
that you can carry around with you.

1658
01:30:44,320 --> 01:30:46,680
This side will tell you
all sorts of stuff about stars,

1659
01:30:46,680 --> 01:30:50,280
but most importantly, this side
will allow you to measure the angle

1660
01:30:50,280 --> 01:30:52,400
of the sun above the horizon.

1661
01:30:52,400 --> 01:30:55,720
And if you do that at midday,
you can work out your latitude,

1662
01:30:55,720 --> 01:30:59,280
how far north or south you are.
Now, that all sounds very simple,

1663
01:30:59,280 --> 01:31:01,880
but actually it's very tricky
cos I've gotta try and allow it

1664
01:31:01,880 --> 01:31:05,800
to hang vertically from there...

1665
01:31:05,800 --> 01:31:09,280
and arrange this so that
the sun shines through that hole,

1666
01:31:09,280 --> 01:31:11,320
which is a bit like
a camera obscura,

1667
01:31:11,320 --> 01:31:13,760
and form a little shiny disc
on that one.

1668
01:31:13,760 --> 01:31:16,080
Let's give it a go, anyway.

1669
01:31:17,560 --> 01:31:19,440
Hang on, I've got the little dots.

1670
01:31:19,440 --> 01:31:22,080
Yep. It's hanging vertically
and it needs to go that way.

1671
01:31:22,080 --> 01:31:24,560
Hang on.
This is almost impossible.

1672
01:31:24,560 --> 01:31:26,920
'And this is on a calm day.

1673
01:31:26,920 --> 01:31:30,600
'Imagine trying to do this
in a Mid-Atlantic swell!'

1674
01:31:30,600 --> 01:31:32,640
Oh, there it is.
There it is. Oh, yeah.

1675
01:31:32,640 --> 01:31:36,320
Well, I saw the little dot,
and I make that 38 degrees.

1676
01:31:36,320 --> 01:31:37,440
38 degrees.

1677
01:31:37,440 --> 01:31:41,280
'Now, as responsible mathematicians
we'll do a few readings

1678
01:31:41,280 --> 01:31:44,960
'and take an average. This should
be easy now I've had a practice.'

1679
01:31:44,960 --> 01:31:48,200
This is impossible.
This would be difficult on land.

1680
01:31:49,320 --> 01:31:51,960
There's my dot.
That time I made it 34 degrees.

1681
01:31:51,960 --> 01:31:54,240
OK,
that's a few degrees difference.

1682
01:31:54,240 --> 01:31:55,720
Shall I do one more?

1683
01:31:55,720 --> 01:31:58,000
37 degrees.
Somewhere in the middle.

1684
01:31:58,000 --> 01:31:59,360
Well, we know roughly where we are.

1685
01:31:59,360 --> 01:32:01,920
Which is interesting
because we haven't moved. Yes.

1686
01:32:01,920 --> 01:32:06,520
Time to head below and check
where the astrolabe thinks we are.

1687
01:32:06,520 --> 01:32:12,320
That comes out
at a latitude of 48.5 degrees.

1688
01:32:12,320 --> 01:32:16,240
48... Oh, it's right at the bottom.
Northern France, near Brest.

1689
01:32:16,240 --> 01:32:19,640
Right. So that's quite a long way
off, isn't it?

1690
01:32:19,640 --> 01:32:21,640
Because we're actually here.

1691
01:32:21,640 --> 01:32:25,680
'The astrolabe has located us
around 140 miles

1692
01:32:25,680 --> 01:32:30,240
'from our actual location
in Cornwall. Oh, dear.'

1693
01:32:30,240 --> 01:32:31,720
And that's just the latitude.

1694
01:32:31,720 --> 01:32:34,760
We've got no idea about longitude
at this point in history.

1695
01:32:34,760 --> 01:32:37,880
So all we think is
that we're on a line that goes

1696
01:32:37,880 --> 01:32:40,320
around the globe there.
Yeah.

1697
01:32:40,320 --> 01:32:45,480
'So, the astrolabe definitely has
room for improvement.

1698
01:32:45,480 --> 01:32:49,200
'Luckily, there was
an alternative navigational tool,

1699
01:32:49,200 --> 01:32:51,720
'something that could make
Raleigh's expedition

1700
01:32:51,720 --> 01:32:54,360
'across the Atlantic
far more accurate -

1701
01:32:54,360 --> 01:32:58,120
'a super high-tech,
precision engineered piece of kit.'

1702
01:32:58,120 --> 01:33:01,880
Right. This is medieval satnav,
version 2.0.

1703
01:33:01,880 --> 01:33:05,680
A stick, but a very clever stick.
This bit slides along.

1704
01:33:05,680 --> 01:33:08,160
It's called a cross-staff
because it's cross-shaped.

1705
01:33:08,160 --> 01:33:15,080
And if I put it up to my face
and get the top of that cross piece

1706
01:33:15,080 --> 01:33:19,920
at the bottom of the sun and
then the other end on the horizon...

1707
01:33:19,920 --> 01:33:21,640
Hold on.

1708
01:33:21,640 --> 01:33:23,120
This is a lot easier,

1709
01:33:23,120 --> 01:33:25,400
and it makes a lot more sense
than the astrolabe,

1710
01:33:25,400 --> 01:33:27,360
but it's still pretty difficult.

1711
01:33:27,360 --> 01:33:29,720
I mean, apart from that
you burn your eyeball out,

1712
01:33:29,720 --> 01:33:32,600
it's very difficult
to hold it steady.

1713
01:33:32,600 --> 01:33:35,280
The sun is so bright
when you actually look at it.

1714
01:33:35,280 --> 01:33:37,640
This is why pirates ended up
with eye-patches

1715
01:33:37,640 --> 01:33:40,360
going, "Ooh-ah, ooh-ah"
all the time.

1716
01:33:40,360 --> 01:33:42,760
Lock it off. And then on the side
there is a scale

1717
01:33:42,760 --> 01:33:45,040
that I can read in degrees,

1718
01:33:45,040 --> 01:33:48,480
and it's roughly 33.5.

1719
01:33:48,480 --> 01:33:52,840
Right. Let's see if Raleigh's
newfangled stick beat the astrolabe.

1720
01:33:54,120 --> 01:33:58,440
So, the cross-staff gives us
a latitude of 50.5 degrees.

1721
01:33:58,440 --> 01:34:01,240
That doesn't sound quite so bad.

1722
01:34:01,240 --> 01:34:05,720
So we're actually... we're actually
on a line of latitude that is north

1723
01:34:05,720 --> 01:34:09,120
of the end of Cornwall,
actually heading up towards Padstow.

1724
01:34:09,120 --> 01:34:11,400
But it is in Cornwall.
It is in Cornwall.

1725
01:34:11,400 --> 01:34:12,480
It is in England.

1726
01:34:12,480 --> 01:34:15,520
The cross-staff is only 30 miles out

1727
01:34:15,520 --> 01:34:18,120
compared with the astrolabe at 140.

1728
01:34:18,120 --> 01:34:22,520
For Raleigh, this improved accuracy
would be a godsend.

1729
01:34:22,520 --> 01:34:24,640
We're used to navigating in cars

1730
01:34:24,640 --> 01:34:27,080
and they can be accurate
down to a couple of metres.

1731
01:34:27,080 --> 01:34:30,840
But, you know,
for the 15th and 16th centuries,

1732
01:34:30,840 --> 01:34:33,840
getting the right end of
a whole country, that's not bad.

1733
01:34:33,840 --> 01:34:36,640
It's not bad. With a wooden stick.
With a wooden stick.

1734
01:34:38,720 --> 01:34:42,320
So, in April 1584,
armed with a wooden stick,

1735
01:34:42,320 --> 01:34:44,680
two ships prepared to set sail

1736
01:34:44,680 --> 01:34:48,160
on a reconnaissance voyage
for Raleigh's New World HQ.

1737
01:34:49,840 --> 01:34:53,680
For Walter Raleigh,
this, his first great expedition,

1738
01:34:53,680 --> 01:34:58,800
would be the culmination of years of
expensive planning and fundraising

1739
01:34:58,800 --> 01:35:01,880
and writing his ridiculous,
flattering poetry.

1740
01:35:01,880 --> 01:35:04,720
But it would be
a voyage of discovery,

1741
01:35:04,720 --> 01:35:09,040
of adventure, of conquest,
and of gathering treasure.

1742
01:35:09,040 --> 01:35:12,160
Except he wasn't allowed to go.

1743
01:35:12,160 --> 01:35:15,600
His fawning and flattery
of the Queen had been so successful

1744
01:35:15,600 --> 01:35:18,280
that she now couldn't bear
to be parted from him.

1745
01:35:18,280 --> 01:35:20,840
She ordered Raleigh
to stay at court

1746
01:35:20,840 --> 01:35:23,440
while his fleet
set sail without him.

1747
01:35:23,440 --> 01:35:25,800
So much for the great explorer, eh?

1748
01:35:25,800 --> 01:35:29,680
While Raleigh was held
at Her Majesty's pleasure,

1749
01:35:29,680 --> 01:35:33,000
his ships followed
the trade winds to the Caribbean,

1750
01:35:33,000 --> 01:35:35,680
before sailing north
to a chain of islands

1751
01:35:35,680 --> 01:35:38,800
along the coast
of today's North Carolina.

1752
01:35:40,040 --> 01:35:43,000
After six weeks of exploring,
they found what seemed like

1753
01:35:43,000 --> 01:35:46,040
the perfect spot
for Raleigh's American base -

1754
01:35:46,040 --> 01:35:49,320
a small island named Roanoke.

1755
01:35:51,680 --> 01:35:54,040
This first attempt at
a New World colony

1756
01:35:54,040 --> 01:35:56,400
would be the catalyst
for a powerful force

1757
01:35:56,400 --> 01:36:00,000
that would come to dominate
the globe - the British Empire.

1758
01:36:01,280 --> 01:36:04,360
Now, this,
I'm sure you recognise it,

1759
01:36:04,360 --> 01:36:07,800
is the British Museum, and it is,
depending on who you ask,

1760
01:36:07,800 --> 01:36:10,600
either a stunning collection
of artefacts

1761
01:36:10,600 --> 01:36:13,120
charting human history
from all over the globe,

1762
01:36:13,120 --> 01:36:15,960
or the world's
biggest lost property office.

1763
01:36:15,960 --> 01:36:19,840
What it definitely is,
is a testimony to the far reach

1764
01:36:19,840 --> 01:36:21,200
of the British state,

1765
01:36:21,200 --> 01:36:23,400
otherwise known
as the British Empire.

1766
01:36:25,200 --> 01:36:26,920
'And Raleigh's little expedition

1767
01:36:26,920 --> 01:36:30,520
'would be the first faltering step
in its creation.'

1768
01:36:30,520 --> 01:36:32,720
Do I keep going?

1769
01:36:33,800 --> 01:36:36,160
'I'm going behind the scenes
at the museum

1770
01:36:36,160 --> 01:36:41,120
'to see the treasures that came back
from a 1585 voyage to Roanoke.

1771
01:36:41,120 --> 01:36:45,960
'Not gold or silver
but watercolours.'

1772
01:36:45,960 --> 01:36:49,240
Now, the reason these pictures
are so incredibly precious,

1773
01:36:49,240 --> 01:36:51,600
apart from because
they're beautifully done, is that,

1774
01:36:51,600 --> 01:36:55,400
of course, this was how the story
of this amazing new world was told.

1775
01:36:55,400 --> 01:36:59,800
There was obviously no TV or radio
or even Pathe newsreel.

1776
01:36:59,800 --> 01:37:01,800
It was people
bringing back pictures.

1777
01:37:01,800 --> 01:37:04,400
Pictures that they'd drawn
and painted.

1778
01:37:04,400 --> 01:37:06,920
'For the first time,
the people of England

1779
01:37:06,920 --> 01:37:09,480
'got a glimpse of North America.'

1780
01:37:09,480 --> 01:37:11,040
When Raleigh's men arrived,

1781
01:37:11,040 --> 01:37:13,480
they encountered a village
a little like this one.

1782
01:37:13,480 --> 01:37:15,840
They shared food. They shared words.

1783
01:37:15,840 --> 01:37:18,200
They wouldn't have understood
each other, obviously.

1784
01:37:18,200 --> 01:37:21,120
And the locals apparently took to
the English and looked after them.

1785
01:37:21,120 --> 01:37:24,040
They fed them, they sheltered them,
they protected them

1786
01:37:24,040 --> 01:37:26,040
from other groups in the area.

1787
01:37:26,040 --> 01:37:28,560
And later, one of the captains
of the expedition would write,

1788
01:37:28,560 --> 01:37:32,520
"A more kind and loving people
there cannot be found in the world."

1789
01:37:32,520 --> 01:37:35,000
Not that they'd seen
the whole world yet, obviously,

1790
01:37:35,000 --> 01:37:36,720
they hadn't even seen
all of America.

1791
01:37:38,240 --> 01:37:41,040
Well, it all appears
to be absolutely delightful.

1792
01:37:42,160 --> 01:37:43,840
I bet you it doesn't last.

1793
01:37:45,120 --> 01:37:47,480
A qualified hand replaces
this watercolour

1794
01:37:47,480 --> 01:37:49,520
with the next one
for our consideration.

1795
01:37:49,520 --> 01:37:51,720
I'm obviously not allowed
to touch them.

1796
01:37:52,640 --> 01:37:57,040
Now, this is probably Wingina,
the leader of the Secotan people.

1797
01:37:57,040 --> 01:38:00,040
'Legend has it that when
the colonists first asked him

1798
01:38:00,040 --> 01:38:03,800
'the name of his country,
he replied "Wingandacoa".'

1799
01:38:03,800 --> 01:38:06,160
Which actually means,
in the local language,

1800
01:38:06,160 --> 01:38:09,040
something like, "Ooh, look at you
with your fancy clothes!"

1801
01:38:09,040 --> 01:38:11,440
'Despite confusing
a fashion compliment

1802
01:38:11,440 --> 01:38:13,720
'with the name
of his beloved homeland,

1803
01:38:13,720 --> 01:38:16,200
'the explorers won Wingina's trust.'

1804
01:38:17,360 --> 01:38:22,520
Very significantly, Wingina decided
that he would send back

1805
01:38:22,520 --> 01:38:27,240
with the English two senior people
from amongst his clan.

1806
01:38:27,240 --> 01:38:29,960
And they arrived in England safely,

1807
01:38:29,960 --> 01:38:32,760
and Raleigh put them up
in his big posh house on The Strand.

1808
01:38:32,760 --> 01:38:35,240
He dressed them
in Elizabethan finery,

1809
01:38:35,240 --> 01:38:37,680
and they caused
an absolute sensation.

1810
01:38:37,680 --> 01:38:40,720
He was using them
as a marketing tool.

1811
01:38:40,720 --> 01:38:43,240
Here they had
real living people to say,

1812
01:38:43,240 --> 01:38:45,920
"Hey, this new place
is going to be fantastic.

1813
01:38:45,920 --> 01:38:49,120
"Why not fund a second expedition?"

1814
01:38:49,120 --> 01:38:51,360
And they did.

1815
01:38:53,720 --> 01:38:56,120
'Investors opened their purses

1816
01:38:56,120 --> 01:38:58,560
'and planning
for another voyage began.

1817
01:38:58,560 --> 01:39:01,560
'Raleigh was headline news.'

1818
01:39:01,560 --> 01:39:06,920
In January 1585,
Walter Raleigh was knighted.

1819
01:39:06,920 --> 01:39:08,760
Soon after that, he also assumed

1820
01:39:08,760 --> 01:39:12,120
the title Lord and Governor
of Virginia,

1821
01:39:12,120 --> 01:39:16,520
naming the new colony
after his beloved Virgin Queen.

1822
01:39:16,520 --> 01:39:19,760
Sir Walter
must have been chuffed to bits.

1823
01:39:19,760 --> 01:39:22,120
He had a knighthood.
He had a lordship.

1824
01:39:22,120 --> 01:39:24,480
He had fame.
He had immense fortune.

1825
01:39:24,480 --> 01:39:27,840
He had the Queen of England
eating out of his hand.

1826
01:39:27,840 --> 01:39:32,760
But despite being
the first Governor of Virginia,

1827
01:39:32,760 --> 01:39:34,640
he still wasn't allowed to go there.

1828
01:39:36,440 --> 01:39:39,240
But there was a new danger
on the high seas.

1829
01:39:39,240 --> 01:39:42,760
Catholic Spain had had enough
of the English looting their ships

1830
01:39:42,760 --> 01:39:45,040
and backing Protestant rebels.

1831
01:39:45,040 --> 01:39:47,760
Open war was about to break out.

1832
01:39:47,760 --> 01:39:51,640
Raleigh's second expedition now
faced the prospect of sea battles,

1833
01:39:51,640 --> 01:39:54,160
and his new colony would need
a heavy defence

1834
01:39:54,160 --> 01:39:56,760
against the threat
of Spanish attack.

1835
01:39:56,760 --> 01:39:59,560
His answer? Call in the big guns.

1836
01:40:02,640 --> 01:40:05,680
Half of Raleigh's
600-strong expedition

1837
01:40:05,680 --> 01:40:07,960
were soldiers packing heat.

1838
01:40:07,960 --> 01:40:10,480
Raleigh ordered £400 worth,

1839
01:40:10,480 --> 01:40:12,320
that's about £100,000
in today's money,

1840
01:40:12,320 --> 01:40:15,320
of gunpowder
from the Tower of London.

1841
01:40:15,320 --> 01:40:18,600
That was enough
to fill around 120 barrels.

1842
01:40:18,600 --> 01:40:23,160
120 wooden barrels of gunpowder
stored on wooden boats,

1843
01:40:23,160 --> 01:40:25,440
where people cooked
over an open fire,

1844
01:40:25,440 --> 01:40:26,920
lit candles and what have you.

1845
01:40:26,920 --> 01:40:28,880
And there wouldn't have been
a risk assessment,

1846
01:40:28,880 --> 01:40:31,160
because in those days,
that would have been considered

1847
01:40:31,160 --> 01:40:33,160
ye right load of oldy nonsense.

1848
01:40:33,160 --> 01:40:35,480
And they brought guns, lots of guns.

1849
01:40:37,080 --> 01:40:39,440
'With the help
of my glamorous assistant,

1850
01:40:39,440 --> 01:40:43,840
'ballistics expert Charlie,
and his high-tech diagnostic kit,

1851
01:40:43,840 --> 01:40:48,240
'I'm putting the weapons Raleigh
had in his arsenal to the test.'

1852
01:40:48,240 --> 01:40:50,760
He's going to fire the weapons
for me because, unfortunately,

1853
01:40:50,760 --> 01:40:53,120
I've injured my wrist, so...

1854
01:40:53,120 --> 01:40:55,400
We need to talk about black powder.

1855
01:40:55,400 --> 01:40:56,880
Can I dispense a little bit?

1856
01:40:56,880 --> 01:40:58,280
You can. Yeah.

1857
01:40:59,520 --> 01:41:01,160
Look at that.

1858
01:41:01,160 --> 01:41:04,240
This revolutionised warfare forever.

1859
01:41:04,240 --> 01:41:06,960
Potassium nitrate
was the vital ingredient,

1860
01:41:06,960 --> 01:41:10,520
is actually made
from urine and faeces.

1861
01:41:11,800 --> 01:41:13,520
So we were actually shooting
at the Spanish

1862
01:41:13,520 --> 01:41:15,360
with our own piss and shit.

1863
01:41:16,520 --> 01:41:20,120
'The most common gun used
by Raleigh's men was the matchlock,

1864
01:41:20,120 --> 01:41:24,880
'which works by touching a burning
wick to the gunpowder to ignite it.'

1865
01:41:24,880 --> 01:41:27,520
So, you've got to make it land
in the pan, haven't you? Yeah.

1866
01:41:27,520 --> 01:41:30,200
'These hadn't changed much
since they were first introduced

1867
01:41:30,200 --> 01:41:34,720
'in the late 1400s, and they had
some serious shortcomings.'

1868
01:41:34,720 --> 01:41:36,640
In battle,
that would be left smouldering,

1869
01:41:36,640 --> 01:41:37,920
which would be quite risky,

1870
01:41:37,920 --> 01:41:39,920
cos when you were loading up
with black powder,

1871
01:41:39,920 --> 01:41:41,600
you could easily
blow yourself to bits.

1872
01:41:41,600 --> 01:41:43,640
OK, let's load her up.

1873
01:41:43,640 --> 01:41:45,120
Straight down the barrel.

1874
01:41:45,120 --> 01:41:47,520
The wadding will give you
a gas tight seal.

1875
01:41:47,520 --> 01:41:49,160
Then we put our ball in.

1876
01:41:49,160 --> 01:41:51,520
It is a faff, isn't it?

1877
01:41:51,520 --> 01:41:54,000
I mean, to be honest,
a good enemy could just run up

1878
01:41:54,000 --> 01:41:57,160
and kick you in the bollocks
while you're doing this. Yeah.

1879
01:41:57,160 --> 01:41:58,920
'But once we're loaded...'

1880
01:41:58,920 --> 01:42:00,080
Safety on.

1881
01:42:00,080 --> 01:42:02,680
'..the time for faff is over.'

1882
01:42:06,720 --> 01:42:07,760
Oh.

1883
01:42:10,200 --> 01:42:12,120
It's a bit anti-climactic, Charlie.

1884
01:42:15,720 --> 01:42:16,720
Cor. Whoa.

1885
01:42:18,600 --> 01:42:20,960
'Let's see that
on Charlie's monitor.

1886
01:42:20,960 --> 01:42:25,040
'The ball hurtles out
at around 300 miles an hour.

1887
01:42:25,040 --> 01:42:27,760
'But only once
you finally get the powder lit.'

1888
01:42:27,760 --> 01:42:29,800
That's actually a bit hopeless,
isn't it?

1889
01:42:29,800 --> 01:42:32,200
By the time you've faffed around,
someone's just wandered up

1890
01:42:32,200 --> 01:42:33,640
and casually cut your head off.

1891
01:42:33,640 --> 01:42:34,760
Yeah, not for me.

1892
01:42:34,760 --> 01:42:36,320
'Luckily for Raleigh,

1893
01:42:36,320 --> 01:42:39,880
'a new gun technology
had recently been invented.'

1894
01:42:39,880 --> 01:42:41,600
OK, does it need
a little prime in the pan?

1895
01:42:41,600 --> 01:42:44,920
'Using a flint spark
to ignite the gunpowder.'

1896
01:42:44,920 --> 01:42:47,280
And I think we're ready to fire it.

1897
01:42:47,280 --> 01:42:50,280
'This protected it
from the rain and the high seas.

1898
01:42:50,280 --> 01:42:53,480
'And you could fire it
twice as fast.'

1899
01:42:54,720 --> 01:42:56,240
Ooh-hoo-hoo-ooh.

1900
01:42:56,240 --> 01:42:59,800
I like that, because you can be
pretty certain it's gonna work.

1901
01:42:59,800 --> 01:43:02,120
Compared with the matchlock.

1902
01:43:03,640 --> 01:43:06,600
'So, we've tested
Raleigh's small arms firepower.

1903
01:43:06,600 --> 01:43:09,440
'But that's not all
he was packing on board.

1904
01:43:09,440 --> 01:43:13,760
'He would need something much bigger
to take on a Spanish fleet.'

1905
01:43:13,760 --> 01:43:15,240
Why are we in a tunnel?

1906
01:43:15,240 --> 01:43:19,640
Our next experiment requires
an enclosed environment.

1907
01:43:19,640 --> 01:43:22,600
Right. Is it the sort of projectile
that could go a long way?

1908
01:43:22,600 --> 01:43:24,960
That kind of carry on, yeah.
Right.

1909
01:43:24,960 --> 01:43:27,320
If you're wondering what
we're talking about, viewers.

1910
01:43:27,320 --> 01:43:29,760
Well, it's at the other end
of the tunnel outside.

1911
01:43:29,760 --> 01:43:31,160
Follow us.

1912
01:43:31,160 --> 01:43:33,800
'What we're about to test
was one of the most powerful,

1913
01:43:33,800 --> 01:43:36,680
'yet mobile,
weapons so far invented.'

1914
01:43:36,680 --> 01:43:38,600
I'm very excited about it going off.

1915
01:43:40,920 --> 01:43:43,440
It's a cannon!

1916
01:43:43,440 --> 01:43:45,800
More specifically, a falconet.

1917
01:43:45,800 --> 01:43:48,640
So called because the main cannon
that they used on the ships

1918
01:43:48,640 --> 01:43:49,960
was called the falcon.

1919
01:43:49,960 --> 01:43:52,320
This is a small version
which is designed to be portable.

1920
01:43:52,320 --> 01:43:53,680
You can take it ashore.

1921
01:43:53,680 --> 01:43:56,040
You can install it
in a fort you've built.

1922
01:43:56,040 --> 01:44:00,560
'Perfect for the busy explorer
who enjoys a scrap on the move.'

1923
01:44:00,560 --> 01:44:03,000
It takes a one pound projectile

1924
01:44:03,000 --> 01:44:05,680
and uses half a pound
of black powder.

1925
01:44:05,680 --> 01:44:08,160
This is the cannonball.

1926
01:44:08,160 --> 01:44:10,880
I wonder what that would be worth
in a game of marbles at school?

1927
01:44:10,880 --> 01:44:12,320
Hundreds and hundreds.

1928
01:44:12,320 --> 01:44:13,640
Can I shove that up the spout?

1929
01:44:13,640 --> 01:44:15,360
You can shove that up the spout.

1930
01:44:16,960 --> 01:44:18,600
That is seated.

1931
01:44:18,600 --> 01:44:20,160
Ball, please.
Ball.

1932
01:44:20,160 --> 01:44:21,120
Ball.

1933
01:44:22,320 --> 01:44:23,720
The target is ready.

1934
01:44:23,720 --> 01:44:25,280
Anyone in the tunnel?

1935
01:44:25,280 --> 01:44:27,920
There you are,
that's health and safety satisfied.

1936
01:44:27,920 --> 01:44:31,680
Right. Let's, as they say,
retire to a safe distance.

1937
01:44:33,480 --> 01:44:34,880
Earplugs in, everyone.

1938
01:44:39,640 --> 01:44:41,200
DOG WHIMPERS

1939
01:44:41,200 --> 01:44:42,480
Stand by.

1940
01:44:42,480 --> 01:44:45,600
Firing. Three, two, one.

1941
01:44:47,200 --> 01:44:49,200
Ooh-hoo-hoo-ooh.

1942
01:44:49,200 --> 01:44:50,960
That's a proper bang.

1943
01:44:50,960 --> 01:44:54,400
Hang on,
you've completely obliterated it.

1944
01:44:54,400 --> 01:44:56,040
Where's the target?

1945
01:44:56,040 --> 01:44:57,640
It's smashed it.

1946
01:44:57,640 --> 01:44:59,120
That's a one pound cannonball.

1947
01:44:59,120 --> 01:45:01,720
That's a small one, a falconet.

1948
01:45:01,720 --> 01:45:03,680
I think that was a pretty good shot,
to be fair,

1949
01:45:03,680 --> 01:45:05,520
considering it was a cannon.

1950
01:45:05,520 --> 01:45:07,360
JAMES CHUCKLES
It's tremendous.

1951
01:45:07,360 --> 01:45:10,360
'Charlie's team are on the case
with an action replay

1952
01:45:10,360 --> 01:45:13,440
'that Raleigh
could only have dreamed of seeing.'

1953
01:45:13,440 --> 01:45:16,200
That is
a state-of-the-art Tudor weapon.

1954
01:45:16,200 --> 01:45:20,080
This is state-of-the-art
21st century analysis,

1955
01:45:20,080 --> 01:45:21,840
including slow motion.

1956
01:45:23,040 --> 01:45:24,000
Wow.

1957
01:45:25,720 --> 01:45:27,520
Ooh.

1958
01:45:27,520 --> 01:45:30,520
A piece of wood finds out.

1959
01:45:30,520 --> 01:45:33,120
What velocity was that?
230 metres per second.

1960
01:45:33,120 --> 01:45:36,560
So that was by far
the fastest thing in the world...

1961
01:45:36,560 --> 01:45:38,160
in Raleigh's time, wasn't it?
Yeah.

1962
01:45:38,160 --> 01:45:39,840
I mean, by a long, long way.
By a long way.

1963
01:45:39,840 --> 01:45:42,800
That's really absolutely...

1964
01:45:42,800 --> 01:45:45,160
Ronnie Scott-ed it, hasn't it?

1965
01:45:45,160 --> 01:45:49,560
'Such was the terrifying power
of Raleigh's new weapons.

1966
01:45:49,560 --> 01:45:52,960
'But that terror would not
be reserved just for the Spanish.

1967
01:45:52,960 --> 01:45:58,480
'Raleigh's new colony would
descend into chaos and violence.'

1968
01:45:59,520 --> 01:46:02,920
Welcome back, viewers, to 1585.

1969
01:46:02,920 --> 01:46:07,360
Sir Walter Raleigh is held
at court by his doting Virgin Queen,

1970
01:46:07,360 --> 01:46:10,120
but he's about to send off
his second voyage

1971
01:46:10,120 --> 01:46:13,360
to the land he's calling Virginia.

1972
01:46:13,360 --> 01:46:16,120
This time, Raleigh sent seven ships

1973
01:46:16,120 --> 01:46:19,320
full to bursting
with supplies and weapons.

1974
01:46:19,320 --> 01:46:22,320
They swung by the Caribbean
for a spot of plunder,

1975
01:46:22,320 --> 01:46:26,760
before heading north
to set up base on Roanoke Island.

1976
01:46:26,760 --> 01:46:30,040
But just as they arrived, the ship,
carrying all the food,

1977
01:46:30,040 --> 01:46:34,440
ran aground on a sandbank
and their supplies were lost.

1978
01:46:34,440 --> 01:46:38,160
Unable to feed themselves,
the starving settlers began bullying

1979
01:46:38,160 --> 01:46:41,560
the locals into sharing
their precious food stores.

1980
01:46:41,560 --> 01:46:45,200
Unsurprisingly, Chief Wingina
soon got fed up

1981
01:46:45,200 --> 01:46:47,080
with his English house guests.

1982
01:46:47,080 --> 01:46:50,800
The situation called
for a tactful diplomatic response.

1983
01:46:50,800 --> 01:46:52,600
So what did the settlers do?

1984
01:46:52,600 --> 01:46:55,960
When a cup went missing,
they burned down a local village.

1985
01:46:55,960 --> 01:46:59,240
And when Chief Wingina withheld
provisions as a protest,

1986
01:46:59,240 --> 01:47:02,920
they shot him, and then cut
his head off for good measure.

1987
01:47:02,920 --> 01:47:07,480
Relations with Wingina's tribe
had now descended into violence,

1988
01:47:07,480 --> 01:47:10,240
and the colonists
were still starving.

1989
01:47:10,240 --> 01:47:13,400
When a passing English ship
stopped by to check in on them,

1990
01:47:13,400 --> 01:47:16,080
the settlers jumped aboard
and fled for home.

1991
01:47:16,080 --> 01:47:19,560
Raleigh's New World colony
was an utter fiasco,

1992
01:47:19,560 --> 01:47:22,560
and his reputation was in tatters.

1993
01:47:22,560 --> 01:47:24,240
Well, it should have been...

1994
01:47:25,840 --> 01:47:29,320
..but the facts were no match
for his skill at spin doctoring.

1995
01:47:29,320 --> 01:47:33,960
Raleigh hastily commissioned a book
giving a behind-the-scenes peek

1996
01:47:33,960 --> 01:47:37,880
at his fantastically successful
and glamorous colony.

1997
01:47:37,880 --> 01:47:40,960
He talks about all the fine things
that are available there,

1998
01:47:40,960 --> 01:47:46,200
like cedar, wine, oils,
furs, copper, pearls.

1999
01:47:46,200 --> 01:47:49,720
It's just abundant with great stuff,
and especially food.

2000
01:47:49,720 --> 01:47:52,320
And they talk about beans.

2001
01:47:52,320 --> 01:47:54,280
They loved the beans, the English,
and said,

2002
01:47:54,280 --> 01:47:58,680
"They were in taste,
the equal of our English peas."

2003
01:47:58,680 --> 01:48:01,120
So, Raleigh's thinking essentially,
was that he wanted to make

2004
01:48:01,120 --> 01:48:05,920
this new place exciting, exotic,
alluring, an adventure.

2005
01:48:05,920 --> 01:48:09,080
But he also wanted to emphasise
that it was safe and friendly.

2006
01:48:09,080 --> 01:48:12,320
A bit like saying, you know,
back in the 1960s,

2007
01:48:12,320 --> 01:48:15,440
come to the Costa del Sol,
it's warm, it's fantastic.

2008
01:48:15,440 --> 01:48:18,560
But don't worry
cos you can get egg and chips.

2009
01:48:18,560 --> 01:48:21,440
He seems to have left out the bit
about the starvation

2010
01:48:21,440 --> 01:48:23,200
and the chief they'd beheaded,

2011
01:48:23,200 --> 01:48:25,560
and put in a bit
about the Secotan people

2012
01:48:25,560 --> 01:48:28,560
that says a lot
about England's ambitions.

2013
01:48:28,560 --> 01:48:32,000
It says that the people
may be quickly brought to civility

2014
01:48:32,000 --> 01:48:33,880
and true religion.

2015
01:48:33,880 --> 01:48:36,240
Uh-uh.
And here's a very telling passage.

2016
01:48:36,240 --> 01:48:39,320
Now, this is what
the indigenous people were thinking.

2017
01:48:39,320 --> 01:48:42,200
"That there were more
of our generation yet to come

2018
01:48:42,200 --> 01:48:46,520
"to kill theirs
and take their place."

2019
01:48:46,520 --> 01:48:49,880
That was the fear of the locals.

2020
01:48:49,880 --> 01:48:52,520
And they were right, weren't they?

2021
01:48:52,520 --> 01:48:54,480
They were right to fear that.

2022
01:48:57,000 --> 01:48:59,000
'Raleigh's propaganda attracted

2023
01:48:59,000 --> 01:49:02,040
'eager new colonists
in their droves.'

2024
01:49:02,040 --> 01:49:06,440
And seduced by his PR,
117 civilians,

2025
01:49:06,440 --> 01:49:09,440
men, women and children,
signed up for it.

2026
01:49:09,440 --> 01:49:13,440
And in 1587,
the third expedition set sail.

2027
01:49:13,440 --> 01:49:17,800
And guess what? Walter Raleigh again
was not with them.

2028
01:49:17,800 --> 01:49:19,920
At first, things went well.

2029
01:49:19,920 --> 01:49:23,240
They fixed up the old colony's
abandoned wooden fort,

2030
01:49:23,240 --> 01:49:26,400
built some huts,
and there was even a new baby -

2031
01:49:26,400 --> 01:49:29,600
the first English child
born in the Americas.

2032
01:49:29,600 --> 01:49:32,800
Aww! It didn't last, though.

2033
01:49:32,800 --> 01:49:36,120
After a couple of months,
it was the same old, same old.

2034
01:49:36,120 --> 01:49:39,200
The settlers were starving.
The locals were hostile.

2035
01:49:39,200 --> 01:49:43,240
So John White, the settlers' leader,
hot-footed it,

2036
01:49:43,240 --> 01:49:45,600
if that were possible back then,
back to England

2037
01:49:45,600 --> 01:49:49,920
to organise supplies and equipment
for a relief mission.

2038
01:49:49,920 --> 01:49:52,440
But there was a problem.

2039
01:49:54,080 --> 01:49:58,800
Open war had finally broken out
with Spain, and in 1588,

2040
01:49:58,800 --> 01:50:02,520
they sent the Spanish Armada
to invade England.

2041
01:50:02,520 --> 01:50:04,800
This would be one
of the biggest naval battles

2042
01:50:04,800 --> 01:50:06,600
the world had ever seen,

2043
01:50:06,600 --> 01:50:09,600
and every last English ship
was needed.

2044
01:50:09,600 --> 01:50:13,040
The fledgling colony,
3,500 miles away

2045
01:50:13,040 --> 01:50:18,080
and desperate for relief,
would have to wait for three years.

2046
01:50:18,080 --> 01:50:20,880
When an English ship
finally made it back to Roanoke,

2047
01:50:20,880 --> 01:50:23,240
they found it completely deserted.

2048
01:50:23,240 --> 01:50:27,640
There was no sign of the families,
the children, even the garrison.

2049
01:50:27,640 --> 01:50:30,320
All they found
was the word "Croatoan"

2050
01:50:30,320 --> 01:50:32,080
carved on a piece of wood.

2051
01:50:32,080 --> 01:50:36,720
Now, Croatoan was another tribe
on an island some 50 miles away.

2052
01:50:36,720 --> 01:50:38,280
Time for a rescue mission.

2053
01:50:38,280 --> 01:50:40,640
But then a storm blew up
and they thought,

2054
01:50:40,640 --> 01:50:42,320
"Well, sod this
for a game of sailors",

2055
01:50:42,320 --> 01:50:44,000
and they went back to England.

2056
01:50:44,000 --> 01:50:46,600
If Tripadvisor had been around
in the time,

2057
01:50:46,600 --> 01:50:49,040
well, Raleigh's resort
would have probably scored

2058
01:50:49,040 --> 01:50:51,400
something like one out of five
and the comment,

2059
01:50:51,400 --> 01:50:54,800
"Verily, forsooth,
I would not recommend ye place."

2060
01:50:54,800 --> 01:50:56,760
But even despite all this,

2061
01:50:56,760 --> 01:51:01,440
Walter Raleigh still came up
smelling of potatoes.

2062
01:51:04,560 --> 01:51:08,120
Now, let's put aside for one minute
things like Virginia and the Armada

2063
01:51:08,120 --> 01:51:11,880
and concentrate on the things for
which our Wally is properly famous.

2064
01:51:11,880 --> 01:51:13,800
Which means, of course, spuds.

2065
01:51:13,800 --> 01:51:16,520
The story goes
that fresh from Virginia,

2066
01:51:16,520 --> 01:51:20,360
Raleigh brought home
the nation's very first potatoes.

2067
01:51:20,360 --> 01:51:23,240
With a new, reliable
and calorie-packed crop

2068
01:51:23,240 --> 01:51:24,840
to power the nation,

2069
01:51:24,840 --> 01:51:27,480
the flea-ridden masses
danced with joy.

2070
01:51:29,160 --> 01:51:31,520
Well, it wasn't quite that simple.

2071
01:51:31,520 --> 01:51:33,880
The trouble is, in the 16th century,

2072
01:51:33,880 --> 01:51:36,240
nobody really knew what to do
with them.

2073
01:51:36,240 --> 01:51:38,600
At first, they actually thought
they were poisonous.

2074
01:51:38,600 --> 01:51:40,960
They called them
"the Devil's apples".

2075
01:51:40,960 --> 01:51:43,520
And then they decided
that they gave you leprosy.

2076
01:51:43,520 --> 01:51:48,480
And finally, they decided that
potatoes would fill you with lust.

2077
01:51:48,480 --> 01:51:50,760
Which is why
in The Merry Wives Of Windsor

2078
01:51:50,760 --> 01:51:52,200
by William Shakespeare,

2079
01:51:52,200 --> 01:51:57,000
Falstaff cries,
"Let the sky rain potatoes,

2080
01:51:57,000 --> 01:52:00,320
"let it thunder to the tune
of Greensleeves",

2081
01:52:00,320 --> 01:52:02,600
which I think was him saying
that he expected

2082
01:52:02,600 --> 01:52:04,800
to get his card stamped that night.

2083
01:52:05,680 --> 01:52:08,200
Potatoes had a bit of a PR problem.

2084
01:52:08,200 --> 01:52:13,040
Solution, put them in England's
favourite dish of the day, the pie.

2085
01:52:13,040 --> 01:52:16,120
Elizabeth was apparently a pie fan.

2086
01:52:16,120 --> 01:52:19,800
Hooray! And her subjects were
chucking any old thing into pastry.

2087
01:52:19,800 --> 01:52:22,160
So, why not a newfangled potato,

2088
01:52:22,160 --> 01:52:25,960
along with dates, lemons,
nutmeg and, er... bone marrow?

2089
01:52:27,360 --> 01:52:30,560
They had
this rather weird pie recipe.

2090
01:52:30,560 --> 01:52:34,880
A potato pie, spelt P-Y-E,
for supper.

2091
01:52:34,880 --> 01:52:36,240
Gadzooks!

2092
01:52:36,240 --> 01:52:37,280
Ooh.

2093
01:52:38,640 --> 01:52:40,000
Right, I'm going in,

2094
01:52:40,000 --> 01:52:42,200
as they've said
in every action film ever made.

2095
01:52:45,520 --> 01:52:47,960
That's the stodgiest thing
ever created.

2096
01:52:47,960 --> 01:52:51,280
You couldn't eat that whole slice,
you'd explode.

2097
01:52:52,520 --> 01:52:55,120
And the idea that
that might fill you with bodily lust

2098
01:52:55,120 --> 01:52:57,080
because it's got potatoes in.

2099
01:52:57,080 --> 01:53:00,280
I can't imagine a bigger
passion killer, to be honest.

2100
01:53:00,280 --> 01:53:03,000
It's worse than massive pants.

2101
01:53:03,000 --> 01:53:06,040
'So, it might not be
the sexiest of vegetables,

2102
01:53:06,040 --> 01:53:07,680
'that's obviously the aubergine,

2103
01:53:07,680 --> 01:53:11,240
'but the potato is undeniably
the most delicious.'

2104
01:53:11,240 --> 01:53:12,600
Mmm.

2105
01:53:12,600 --> 01:53:15,680
'And once we realised spuds
could also become lovely things

2106
01:53:15,680 --> 01:53:21,280
'like roasties and jackets and mash,
the nation went potato crazy.'

2107
01:53:21,280 --> 01:53:23,800
The peasants started growing
potatoes in their millions.

2108
01:53:23,800 --> 01:53:25,400
They were easy to grow,
we all know that.

2109
01:53:25,400 --> 01:53:26,720
They were cheap.

2110
01:53:26,720 --> 01:53:29,480
The government hadn't cottoned on
to a way of taxing them.

2111
01:53:29,480 --> 01:53:32,720
But of course,
the government did eventually notice

2112
01:53:32,720 --> 01:53:34,640
how popular potatoes were,

2113
01:53:34,640 --> 01:53:38,640
and they used the potato to build up
the population and to feed armies.

2114
01:53:38,640 --> 01:53:42,040
So in a roundabout way, through
the good offices of the potato,

2115
01:53:42,040 --> 01:53:46,080
Sir Walter Raleigh did
have a hand in empire building.

2116
01:53:46,080 --> 01:53:49,720
Except that's not actually true,
because he had absolutely sweet FA

2117
01:53:49,720 --> 01:53:51,480
to do with the discovery
of potatoes.

2118
01:53:51,480 --> 01:53:56,160
They were probably, to be honest,
brought to England by the Spanish.

2119
01:53:56,160 --> 01:53:58,520
And in any case,
they didn't grow in Virginia.

2120
01:53:58,520 --> 01:54:02,040
They grew in Colombia,
where he also hadn't been.

2121
01:54:02,040 --> 01:54:05,600
For once, Raleigh isn't actually
responsible for his own spin.

2122
01:54:05,600 --> 01:54:09,160
It was the empire-loving Victorians
who couldn't bear the thought

2123
01:54:09,160 --> 01:54:12,440
that our beloved spuds were brought
to Europe by the Spanish.

2124
01:54:12,440 --> 01:54:16,280
So they picked out a handy
national hero to pin it on instead.

2125
01:54:16,280 --> 01:54:20,680
So, empire, fail. Potatoes, fail.

2126
01:54:20,680 --> 01:54:23,640
But there was one product
of the new world

2127
01:54:23,640 --> 01:54:26,000
that he did have a hand in.

2128
01:54:26,000 --> 01:54:29,520
For this next bit, viewers,
health and safety requires us

2129
01:54:29,520 --> 01:54:32,040
to move outside to the fire escape.

2130
01:54:32,040 --> 01:54:36,600
This is tobacco, of course.

2131
01:54:36,600 --> 01:54:39,520
Virginia was absolutely thick
with the stuff.

2132
01:54:39,520 --> 01:54:43,920
We don't know for sure that Raleigh
personally introduced tobacco

2133
01:54:43,920 --> 01:54:46,920
to England,
but he definitely made it famous.

2134
01:54:46,920 --> 01:54:49,760
Apparently, he encouraged
the Queen to have a puff.

2135
01:54:49,760 --> 01:54:51,160
It was said, actually,

2136
01:54:51,160 --> 01:54:54,400
that the first time Raleigh
smoked a pipe back home in England,

2137
01:54:54,400 --> 01:54:57,200
his servant threw a jug of ale
over him

2138
01:54:57,200 --> 01:54:58,880
because he thought he was on fire.

2139
01:54:58,880 --> 01:55:00,920
Which I suppose he was,
technically speaking.

2140
01:55:00,920 --> 01:55:03,840
Oh, and he didn't just propagate
the use of tobacco.

2141
01:55:03,840 --> 01:55:06,200
He absolutely loved
the stuff himself.

2142
01:55:06,200 --> 01:55:09,240
After his death,
his tobacco pouch was found

2143
01:55:09,240 --> 01:55:11,160
and it had inscribed on it,

2144
01:55:11,160 --> 01:55:14,240
"You were my friend
when I was in need."

2145
01:55:14,240 --> 01:55:18,040
'Finally, something
Raleigh actually succeeded at.'

2146
01:55:18,040 --> 01:55:20,400
So I suppose you could argue,
actually,

2147
01:55:20,400 --> 01:55:24,120
that our hero has ultimately
been responsible for...

2148
01:55:24,120 --> 01:55:28,440
tens of millions of deaths
and bronchial disorders

2149
01:55:28,440 --> 01:55:30,560
and smelly jumpers.

2150
01:55:30,560 --> 01:55:34,000
But, you know, if he hadn't done it,
somebody else would have.

2151
01:55:34,000 --> 01:55:35,920
Just like tobacco,

2152
01:55:35,920 --> 01:55:39,600
Raleigh's celebrity status
spread like wildfire.

2153
01:55:39,600 --> 01:55:41,280
Despite his own failure,

2154
01:55:41,280 --> 01:55:46,080
he had ignited English excitement
for a North American colony,

2155
01:55:46,080 --> 01:55:49,000
and he was still riding high
at Elizabeth's court.

2156
01:55:50,360 --> 01:55:53,200
But then he made a grave mistake.

2157
01:55:53,200 --> 01:55:54,360
He fell in love.

2158
01:55:56,200 --> 01:55:57,760
Ah, the rose garden.

2159
01:55:59,680 --> 01:56:03,160
What better place
to discuss romance, love

2160
01:56:03,160 --> 01:56:04,840
and a treacherous betrayal.

2161
01:56:06,120 --> 01:56:08,960
So, what actually happened?

2162
01:56:08,960 --> 01:56:11,840
Well, Raleigh had a relationship

2163
01:56:11,840 --> 01:56:14,480
with one of Elizabeth's
ladies-in-waiting,

2164
01:56:14,480 --> 01:56:16,840
named Bess Throckmorton.

2165
01:56:16,840 --> 01:56:19,960
She ended up pregnant,
and the two married secretly.

2166
01:56:19,960 --> 01:56:23,880
'Raleigh had to accept
he wouldn't be marrying the Queen.

2167
01:56:23,880 --> 01:56:26,800
'But with Bess,
he got pretty close.'

2168
01:56:26,800 --> 01:56:30,280
So, trying to keep something
like that secret from the Queen

2169
01:56:30,280 --> 01:56:32,640
is a bit of an ask, isn't it?

2170
01:56:32,640 --> 01:56:35,760
Especially in a court filled
with gossiping people.

2171
01:56:35,760 --> 01:56:38,200
Mm.
She does find out eventually.

2172
01:56:38,200 --> 01:56:41,040
She feels betrayed by her favourite.

2173
01:56:42,360 --> 01:56:44,320
She felt that she owned him,

2174
01:56:44,320 --> 01:56:47,600
but also his choice
of one of her ladies-in-waiting.

2175
01:56:47,600 --> 01:56:54,040
Her crush has gotten off with
her younger, hotter, close friend.

2176
01:56:54,040 --> 01:56:56,960
Yeah, well, he's gonna regret that
in a couple of seconds

2177
01:56:56,960 --> 01:56:58,720
when I appear outside
the Tower of London.

2178
01:57:00,920 --> 01:57:04,440
Because hell hath no fury
like a virgin monarch scorned.

2179
01:57:04,440 --> 01:57:05,600
CAWS

2180
01:57:05,600 --> 01:57:08,080
The Queen was absolutely livid.

2181
01:57:08,080 --> 01:57:11,880
She barred him from court
and locked him... in the Tower.

2182
01:57:13,880 --> 01:57:15,400
He wasn't there for long, though.

2183
01:57:18,240 --> 01:57:19,880
You rejoin us, viewers,

2184
01:57:19,880 --> 01:57:22,520
at a troubling time
for our faltering hero.

2185
01:57:22,520 --> 01:57:27,320
It's 1592. Queen Elizabeth
has locked Raleigh in the Tower

2186
01:57:27,320 --> 01:57:30,600
for secretly marrying
one of her ladies-in-waiting.

2187
01:57:30,600 --> 01:57:33,720
But luckily for Raleigh,
one of his raiding fleets

2188
01:57:33,720 --> 01:57:37,200
arrived home with the biggest
single haul of pilfered treasure

2189
01:57:37,200 --> 01:57:41,600
ever known, which proved
too enticing to the ship's crew,

2190
01:57:41,600 --> 01:57:44,200
who started disappearing
with bits of it,

2191
01:57:44,200 --> 01:57:47,000
including the Queen's share.

2192
01:57:47,000 --> 01:57:51,560
So, Walter was let out of prison
to go and round up the missing loot,

2193
01:57:51,560 --> 01:57:54,400
and because he was still barred
from court,

2194
01:57:54,400 --> 01:57:58,800
that meant he could actually
go on a real adventure.

2195
01:57:58,800 --> 01:58:01,960
Potentially the most lucrative
of his life.

2196
01:58:03,200 --> 01:58:06,560
Raleigh had heard
a tantalising tale,

2197
01:58:06,560 --> 01:58:10,160
the greatest legend
of the Age of Exploration, in fact,

2198
01:58:10,160 --> 01:58:14,680
that, if true, could make him
the richest man in England.

2199
01:58:14,680 --> 01:58:16,480
A rumour was doing the rounds.

2200
01:58:16,480 --> 01:58:19,680
One of a city of pure gold.

2201
01:58:19,680 --> 01:58:24,080
The legend of the lost city
of El Dorado.

2202
01:58:24,080 --> 01:58:28,160
Raleigh was determined to find it,
so he raised £60,000,

2203
01:58:28,160 --> 01:58:30,520
that's about 10 million quid
in today's money.

2204
01:58:30,520 --> 01:58:33,040
And because he'd fallen
out of favour with the Queen,

2205
01:58:33,040 --> 01:58:35,240
he was going to go himself.

2206
01:58:36,400 --> 01:58:37,960
The clock was ticking,

2207
01:58:37,960 --> 01:58:42,000
as the Spanish were also rumoured
to be looking for El Dorado.

2208
01:58:42,000 --> 01:58:46,920
In 1595, he set off from Plymouth,
charting a course from the Canaries

2209
01:58:46,920 --> 01:58:51,680
to the mouth of the Orinoco River
in present day Venezuela.

2210
01:58:51,680 --> 01:58:56,080
Finally, Raleigh was on
an expedition.

2211
01:58:56,080 --> 01:58:59,480
He knew, as he put it,
that people found him too easeful

2212
01:58:59,480 --> 01:59:03,320
and sensual to undertake
a journey of such great travail.

2213
01:59:03,320 --> 01:59:05,840
So he marched up the Orinoco River

2214
01:59:05,840 --> 01:59:08,520
and gave some Spaniards
a good shoeing.

2215
01:59:08,520 --> 01:59:11,840
And he also found gold. Or at least
that's what he wrote to the Queen.

2216
01:59:11,840 --> 01:59:15,760
"This area hath more gold than
the best of the Indies," he said.

2217
01:59:15,760 --> 01:59:20,720
What he'd actually found
was iron pyrites - fool's gold.

2218
01:59:20,720 --> 01:59:24,480
The Queen was not amused.

2219
01:59:24,480 --> 01:59:28,200
Elizabeth clearly wasn't going
to fund any more expeditions.

2220
01:59:28,200 --> 01:59:30,560
But Raleigh didn't give up
that easily.

2221
01:59:30,560 --> 01:59:33,760
He would raise it
from the gullible public instead.

2222
01:59:33,760 --> 01:59:37,120
This is Walter's version
of fake news.

2223
01:59:37,120 --> 01:59:39,920
His book,
The Discovery Of The Large, Rich

2224
01:59:39,920 --> 01:59:42,400
And Beautiful Empire Of Guiana.

2225
01:59:42,400 --> 01:59:46,040
It's beautifully written.
It's lavishly illustrated.

2226
01:59:46,040 --> 01:59:47,880
It's complete bullshit.

2227
01:59:47,880 --> 01:59:51,560
It's really a sales pitch,
because what he wanted to do

2228
01:59:51,560 --> 01:59:54,280
was persuade people to invest
in his voyage,

2229
01:59:54,280 --> 01:59:58,040
because of this marvellous land that
would await them if they took part.

2230
01:59:58,040 --> 02:00:01,720
And I'm going to read you a bit
from it cos it's fantastic.

2231
02:00:01,720 --> 02:00:04,480
It says,
"More rich and beautiful cities,

2232
02:00:04,480 --> 02:00:07,440
"more temples adorned
with golden images,

2233
02:00:07,440 --> 02:00:12,240
"more sepulchres filled with
treasure than either Mexico or Peru.

2234
02:00:12,240 --> 02:00:14,040
"And the shining glory
of this conquest

2235
02:00:14,040 --> 02:00:17,200
"will eclipse the Spanish nation."

2236
02:00:17,200 --> 02:00:19,560
Now, let's have a look
at some of the pictures.

2237
02:00:19,560 --> 02:00:23,960
The land was filled with exotic
and very friendly animals,

2238
02:00:23,960 --> 02:00:28,040
including this one which had
a nice, soft, furry body,

2239
02:00:28,040 --> 02:00:32,640
long claws, and the head
of Iain Duncan Smith.

2240
02:00:32,640 --> 02:00:37,040
He also talked about a people
who didn't have heads.

2241
02:00:37,040 --> 02:00:41,680
They had their faces in the middle
of their chests like this.

2242
02:00:41,680 --> 02:00:46,000
All lies, though.
All of it completely made up.

2243
02:00:46,000 --> 02:00:47,640
The man was a charlatan.

2244
02:00:47,640 --> 02:00:49,920
It might have all been
complete tosh,

2245
02:00:49,920 --> 02:00:52,280
but it was page-turning tosh.

2246
02:00:52,280 --> 02:00:55,480
Raleigh was now
a best-selling author and explorer

2247
02:00:55,480 --> 02:00:57,920
and an A-list celebrity.

2248
02:00:57,920 --> 02:01:00,760
But then a plot twist.

2249
02:01:00,760 --> 02:01:04,800
The Queen died. In an instant,
the Tudor era was over,

2250
02:01:04,800 --> 02:01:08,400
and the new kid on the block was
an entirely different proposition.

2251
02:01:08,400 --> 02:01:09,520
BAGPIPES PLAY

2252
02:01:09,520 --> 02:01:11,280
James I, a Scot...

2253
02:01:13,040 --> 02:01:16,360
..an absolutist monarch
who wanted peace with Spain.

2254
02:01:16,360 --> 02:01:18,720
And he immediately started
annoying Parliament

2255
02:01:18,720 --> 02:01:23,240
with his high-handed speeches
and his constant demands for money.

2256
02:01:23,240 --> 02:01:26,800
Pretty soon, rumours of plots
started to circulate

2257
02:01:26,800 --> 02:01:29,080
throughout his court,
and James decided

2258
02:01:29,080 --> 02:01:31,440
that he had to take down anybody

2259
02:01:31,440 --> 02:01:35,280
who might pose a threat
to his precarious rule.

2260
02:01:35,280 --> 02:01:38,520
Over the years,
the flashy, outspoken Raleigh

2261
02:01:38,520 --> 02:01:41,760
had rubbed most of the court
up the wrong way.

2262
02:01:41,760 --> 02:01:43,680
His rivals seized their chance

2263
02:01:43,680 --> 02:01:46,760
and began turning King James
against him.

2264
02:01:46,760 --> 02:01:51,160
Soon, Raleigh was implicated
in a plot to overthrow the King.

2265
02:01:51,160 --> 02:01:54,360
James had him arrested
and put on trial for treason.

2266
02:01:55,560 --> 02:01:59,240
This would be the ultimate test
of Raleigh's silver tongue.

2267
02:01:59,240 --> 02:02:02,600
Time to roll out the rhetoric.

2268
02:02:02,600 --> 02:02:07,000
So, our Walt is now at the point
where he's essentially arguing

2269
02:02:07,000 --> 02:02:08,800
for keeping his head on.

2270
02:02:08,800 --> 02:02:10,360
He's on trial for his life.

2271
02:02:10,360 --> 02:02:13,520
He's got to deploy all of the skills
and knowledge that he has gathered

2272
02:02:13,520 --> 02:02:16,680
over the years in an attempt
not just to persuade the jury,

2273
02:02:16,680 --> 02:02:19,600
but also
the court of public opinion.

2274
02:02:19,600 --> 02:02:22,960
'We don't know if Raleigh
had been plotting against the King,

2275
02:02:22,960 --> 02:02:26,360
'but the Crown's case
was extremely shaky.

2276
02:02:26,360 --> 02:02:29,840
'Resting on the evidence
of a single witness,

2277
02:02:29,840 --> 02:02:32,640
'Raleigh repeatedly demanded
that his accuser

2278
02:02:32,640 --> 02:02:36,240
'be brought before the court
for questioning.'

2279
02:02:36,240 --> 02:02:39,960
And when that was refused him,
he drew attention to it by saying,

2280
02:02:39,960 --> 02:02:42,560
"If you proceed to condemn me
without an oath,

2281
02:02:42,560 --> 02:02:45,960
"without witnesses
upon a paper accusation,

2282
02:02:45,960 --> 02:02:49,280
"you try me
by the Spanish Inquisition."

2283
02:02:49,280 --> 02:02:51,640
And this enraged the prosecutor
who said,

2284
02:02:51,640 --> 02:02:53,680
"This is treasonable speech."

2285
02:02:53,680 --> 02:02:56,280
And Raleigh replies,
"It is no rare case for a man

2286
02:02:56,280 --> 02:02:59,920
"to be falsely accused, aye,
and falsely condemned, too."

2287
02:02:59,920 --> 02:03:02,280
Ooh, I like that.

2288
02:03:02,280 --> 02:03:04,920
'Everyone in the courtroom
was spellbound

2289
02:03:04,920 --> 02:03:06,880
'by Raleigh's performance.'

2290
02:03:06,880 --> 02:03:09,800
One commentator said
that before the trial,

2291
02:03:09,800 --> 02:03:12,960
he would have ridden 100 miles
to see Raleigh hanged.

2292
02:03:12,960 --> 02:03:14,400
But after hearing him,

2293
02:03:14,400 --> 02:03:17,640
he would have ridden
a thousand miles to save his life.

2294
02:03:17,640 --> 02:03:20,760
That was the power of the rhetoric
that he deployed that day.

2295
02:03:20,760 --> 02:03:25,200
The public didn't get a vote,
though, and the trial was fixed.

2296
02:03:25,200 --> 02:03:29,920
Raleigh was found guilty
and condemned to death,

2297
02:03:29,920 --> 02:03:32,320
but his defiant performance
had elevated him

2298
02:03:32,320 --> 02:03:36,320
to national hero status,
and fearing public outcry,

2299
02:03:36,320 --> 02:03:39,600
King James was forced
to spare him the axe.

2300
02:03:41,000 --> 02:03:42,960
He was simply commuted
to life imprisonment,

2301
02:03:42,960 --> 02:03:45,520
and it's because
of that powerful impact

2302
02:03:45,520 --> 02:03:47,880
that his presence
in the courtroom had.

2303
02:03:47,880 --> 02:03:50,600
So the pen did turn out
to be mightier than the sword then.

2304
02:03:50,600 --> 02:03:53,360
On this particular occasion,
absolutely.

2305
02:03:53,360 --> 02:03:57,440
But while Raleigh may have weaselled
his way out of a beheading,

2306
02:03:57,440 --> 02:04:00,440
he was still thrown
in the Tower of London.

2307
02:04:00,440 --> 02:04:03,160
Bet you he can't talk his way
out of this one.

2308
02:04:05,280 --> 02:04:10,520
Welcome back, viewers, to 1603
and the Tower of London,

2309
02:04:10,520 --> 02:04:15,200
where King James has locked up
Sir Walter Raleigh for treason.

2310
02:04:15,200 --> 02:04:17,280
Raleigh, the great adventurer,

2311
02:04:17,280 --> 02:04:20,520
spent 13 years here
in the Bloody Tower,

2312
02:04:20,520 --> 02:04:25,080
and presumably it didn't take him
very long to explore his two rooms,

2313
02:04:25,080 --> 02:04:27,800
so he resorted to what
had always helped him in the past.

2314
02:04:27,800 --> 02:04:29,400
He wrote another bloody book.

2315
02:04:31,120 --> 02:04:34,320
And it seems he may have been
a little overambitious,

2316
02:04:34,320 --> 02:04:36,680
even for a man
with absolutely nothing else to do,

2317
02:04:36,680 --> 02:04:41,400
because this pile of books here
represents the volume of writing

2318
02:04:41,400 --> 02:04:44,760
in Sir Walter Raleigh's
History Of The World.

2319
02:04:44,760 --> 02:04:47,120
This number of words is greater

2320
02:04:47,120 --> 02:04:50,360
than the entire JK Rowling
Harry Potter series,

2321
02:04:50,360 --> 02:04:54,600
and it doesn't even include
any flying cars or owls.

2322
02:04:56,400 --> 02:05:00,120
It did, however, include
some light roasting of the monarchy

2323
02:05:00,120 --> 02:05:03,920
with zingers, such as describing
a previous King, Richard III,

2324
02:05:03,920 --> 02:05:06,720
as "a spectacle of shame
and dishonour".

2325
02:05:06,720 --> 02:05:10,760
So scandalous was its tone
that it became a bestseller...

2326
02:05:10,760 --> 02:05:13,320
until the King got a copy
for Christmas.

2327
02:05:13,320 --> 02:05:16,480
This, of course, annoyed James,
and he had it banned,

2328
02:05:16,480 --> 02:05:21,760
saying that it was "too saucy
in censuring the acts of princes".

2329
02:05:21,760 --> 02:05:23,160
Crikey.

2330
02:05:26,280 --> 02:05:29,400
I mean, I've sat in
a few historic prison cells,

2331
02:05:29,400 --> 02:05:32,440
and many of them are smaller
and damper

2332
02:05:32,440 --> 02:05:34,720
and more windowless than this one.

2333
02:05:34,720 --> 02:05:38,360
But even so, what has he got?

2334
02:05:38,360 --> 02:05:44,800
A grimy window and his boring book
to write for 13 years.

2335
02:05:44,800 --> 02:05:45,960
Thirteen years?

2336
02:05:47,120 --> 02:05:48,920
I'd have cut my own head off.

2337
02:05:50,080 --> 02:05:53,520
But as befitting a man
of national hero status,

2338
02:05:53,520 --> 02:05:57,080
Raleigh's prison cell
also came with a small garden,

2339
02:05:57,080 --> 02:06:00,880
which he swiftly realised he could
use to claw back some influence

2340
02:06:00,880 --> 02:06:04,600
by reinventing himself
as a pharmacist.

2341
02:06:05,760 --> 02:06:08,960
He grew plants from the seeds
he collected on his travels,

2342
02:06:08,960 --> 02:06:11,920
and he turned a small hen house
into a laboratory

2343
02:06:11,920 --> 02:06:14,280
where he concocted potions to cure,

2344
02:06:14,280 --> 02:06:18,960
amongst other things,
sore eyes, piles and diarrhoea.

2345
02:06:18,960 --> 02:06:21,080
And quite by chance,

2346
02:06:21,080 --> 02:06:24,360
some of the recipes are here
in the herb beds.

2347
02:06:24,360 --> 02:06:28,760
Here, for example,
is the simple remedy for ye piles.

2348
02:06:28,760 --> 02:06:31,480
"For the piles,
take the oil of shoemaker's shreds

2349
02:06:31,480 --> 02:06:34,160
"made by boiling them in water.

2350
02:06:34,160 --> 02:06:37,840
"Beat this oil with the herb mullet
and apply it.

2351
02:06:37,840 --> 02:06:42,600
"Also, if you burn frankincense
and set it in your stool,

2352
02:06:42,600 --> 02:06:46,400
"that the fume may come
to the fundament..."

2353
02:06:46,400 --> 02:06:48,000
ie, go up your jacksie.

2354
02:06:48,000 --> 02:06:51,360
"..it cureth them or the emerods."

2355
02:06:51,360 --> 02:06:54,120
And believe it or not,
these were very popular.

2356
02:06:54,120 --> 02:06:58,360
Even James' wife, Anne of Denmark,
was a customer...

2357
02:06:59,640 --> 02:07:02,440
..because, clearly,
she had the "emerods".

2358
02:07:04,320 --> 02:07:08,720
'And so it seemed Raleigh would live
out his remaining days in the Tower,

2359
02:07:08,720 --> 02:07:11,760
'curing piles for the ladies
of the court.

2360
02:07:11,760 --> 02:07:16,640
'But, no, he had one last
audacious con up his sleeve.'

2361
02:07:16,640 --> 02:07:20,640
King James had fallen out
with Parliament so badly

2362
02:07:20,640 --> 02:07:22,440
that he'd suspended it,
and as a result,

2363
02:07:22,440 --> 02:07:24,800
had completely run out of money.

2364
02:07:24,800 --> 02:07:27,640
Now, Sir Walter Raleigh,
in his prison cell, got wind of this

2365
02:07:27,640 --> 02:07:32,320
and wrote to the King, offering
to help with promises of gold.

2366
02:07:32,320 --> 02:07:34,600
And like many desperate people
before him,

2367
02:07:34,600 --> 02:07:36,960
the King fell for Raleigh's patter

2368
02:07:36,960 --> 02:07:40,400
and decided he would
do something with this offer.

2369
02:07:40,400 --> 02:07:42,280
Raleigh had done it again.

2370
02:07:42,280 --> 02:07:45,000
He was released from prison,
given a fleet of ships,

2371
02:07:45,000 --> 02:07:48,200
and off he went to find El Dorado.

2372
02:07:48,200 --> 02:07:49,800
There was only one rule.

2373
02:07:49,800 --> 02:07:53,240
Impoverished James had made peace
with the Spanish king,

2374
02:07:53,240 --> 02:07:56,880
and on no account was
the fervently anti-Spanish Raleigh

2375
02:07:56,880 --> 02:07:58,120
to rock the boat.

2376
02:07:59,480 --> 02:08:04,680
Raleigh set sail, but this time,
things didn't go so smoothly.

2377
02:08:04,680 --> 02:08:07,280
The fleet was blown off course
by storms,

2378
02:08:07,280 --> 02:08:11,680
hitting South America
700 miles east of their destination,

2379
02:08:11,680 --> 02:08:16,160
and they were forced to crawl
up the coast to the Orinoco River.

2380
02:08:16,160 --> 02:08:19,640
Then Raleigh came down
with a terrible case of the ague

2381
02:08:19,640 --> 02:08:23,000
and was laid up in his cabin
when the fleet arrived.

2382
02:08:23,000 --> 02:08:26,360
He sent his men upriver
to find gold,

2383
02:08:26,360 --> 02:08:30,840
but instead, flouting
the explicit orders of King James,

2384
02:08:30,840 --> 02:08:33,120
they looted and burned
a Spanish outpost,

2385
02:08:33,120 --> 02:08:35,920
killing three of its inhabitants.

2386
02:08:35,920 --> 02:08:38,760
King James was furious
and accused Raleigh

2387
02:08:38,760 --> 02:08:44,520
of trying to start a war with Spain,
and there was, of course, no gold.

2388
02:08:44,520 --> 02:08:49,160
It was a colossal cock-up,
and it sealed Raleigh's fate.

2389
02:08:49,160 --> 02:08:51,080
This time, unfortunately,

2390
02:08:51,080 --> 02:08:54,360
his silken tongue
could not save him.

2391
02:08:54,360 --> 02:08:57,400
And so it turned out, before Raleigh
could write another book

2392
02:08:57,400 --> 02:09:00,080
or perfect a medicinal cure
for flatulence,

2393
02:09:00,080 --> 02:09:02,080
he was beheaded just over there,

2394
02:09:02,080 --> 02:09:05,120
the other side
of St Margaret's Church,

2395
02:09:05,120 --> 02:09:06,720
and he was buried here as well.

2396
02:09:06,720 --> 02:09:11,120
Or most of him was, because even
in death he could create a story.

2397
02:09:11,120 --> 02:09:15,560
His devoted wife, Bess, carried
his severed head around with her

2398
02:09:15,560 --> 02:09:19,200
in a bag for the next 30 years.

2399
02:09:19,200 --> 02:09:24,200
And just like his severed head,
Raleigh's influence lived on.

2400
02:09:24,200 --> 02:09:27,960
His king-bashing books
and defiant speech from the scaffold

2401
02:09:27,960 --> 02:09:30,400
would inspire
future anti-monarchists,

2402
02:09:30,400 --> 02:09:34,040
particularly Oliver Cromwell,
who 30 years later,

2403
02:09:34,040 --> 02:09:37,280
would behead King James' own son,
Charles.

2404
02:09:38,760 --> 02:09:42,360
Raleigh's genius rhetoric
would strike its final blow

2405
02:09:42,360 --> 02:09:44,840
from beyond the grave.

2406
02:09:44,840 --> 02:09:48,640
But what did his voyages achieve?

2407
02:09:48,640 --> 02:09:53,040
Was Sir Walter Raleigh
a great explorer?

2408
02:09:53,040 --> 02:09:55,840
Well, it seems he didn't go
on half the expeditions.

2409
02:09:55,840 --> 02:09:59,160
And although I've said he was
the catalyst for the British Empire,

2410
02:09:59,160 --> 02:10:03,040
most of his attempts at colonisation
were a bit dismal, let's be honest.

2411
02:10:03,040 --> 02:10:06,560
It was while Raleigh was locked up
in the Tower that England's

2412
02:10:06,560 --> 02:10:10,960
first real American colony
was established - Jamestown.

2413
02:10:10,960 --> 02:10:14,480
But at least Raleigh's naming
of Virginia stuck.

2414
02:10:14,480 --> 02:10:15,800
And what did he discover?

2415
02:10:15,800 --> 02:10:21,040
Well, not potatoes, as it turns out.
Not tobacco, not a city of gold.

2416
02:10:21,040 --> 02:10:23,400
And even the bicycle
isn't named after him.

2417
02:10:24,680 --> 02:10:27,360
Most of those fantastical images
of Raleigh

2418
02:10:27,360 --> 02:10:29,880
were just made up rubbish,

2419
02:10:29,880 --> 02:10:34,280
inventions of an era that loved
a bit of colonial propaganda.

2420
02:10:34,280 --> 02:10:37,320
I think he might have been
a bit of a wideboy,

2421
02:10:37,320 --> 02:10:38,960
a bit of an arch manipulator

2422
02:10:38,960 --> 02:10:41,320
with an unhealthy taste
for violence.

2423
02:10:44,240 --> 02:10:46,600
The trouble with this, though,
is that the popular legend

2424
02:10:46,600 --> 02:10:48,960
of Walter Raleigh
is a rather lovely one.

2425
02:10:48,960 --> 02:10:52,120
Here's this bloke poncing around
in his doublet and hose

2426
02:10:52,120 --> 02:10:54,960
with his ruff
and his neat little beard,

2427
02:10:54,960 --> 02:10:58,120
winning the heart and the ear
of the Queen,

2428
02:10:58,120 --> 02:11:01,600
and writing poetry and saving
the nation through spuds.

2429
02:11:03,040 --> 02:11:06,520
It's one of those stories
that's too good to check.

2430
02:11:06,520 --> 02:11:10,560
The trouble is, I have checked it,
and now I've spoilt it.

2431
02:11:10,560 --> 02:11:14,840
So all I can do, really, viewers,
is apologise. I'm very sorry.

2432
02:11:19,720 --> 02:11:23,560
Join me in the next episode
when I spoil Captain Cook for you.

2433
02:11:23,560 --> 02:11:25,200
'Next time...'

2434
02:11:25,200 --> 02:11:27,480
Cast off and set sail.

2435
02:11:27,480 --> 02:11:29,120
'..Captain James Cook.'

2436
02:11:29,120 --> 02:11:32,520
He would chart the final
unknown third of the globe.

2437
02:11:32,520 --> 02:11:35,720
This was a massive boost
to our scientific esteem.

2438
02:11:35,720 --> 02:11:37,120
Look at that.

2439
02:11:37,120 --> 02:11:40,320
Everybody on board
was absolutely "gangplanked".

2440
02:11:40,320 --> 02:11:43,280
This chart that he produced,
it's a weapon.

2441
02:11:43,280 --> 02:11:44,880
MAN: Fire!

2442
02:11:44,880 --> 02:11:48,080
The British invented time.
It's ours.

2443
02:11:48,080 --> 02:11:50,480
WOMAN: Right, James,
put some effort into it.

2444
02:11:50,480 --> 02:11:51,960
Wah!

2445
02:11:51,960 --> 02:11:53,480
I think the dog does better than this.

2446
02:12:26,380 --> 02:12:29,560
Captain Cook was
the son of a humble farmworker

2447
02:12:29,560 --> 02:12:31,440
and because of the class system,

2448
02:12:31,440 --> 02:12:35,400
almost certainly destined to become
a humble farmworker himself.

2449
02:12:35,400 --> 02:12:39,360
But he was a bright boy, and
he was going to smash the system.

2450
02:12:39,360 --> 02:12:43,200
Now, his dad's boss noticed that
the lad had promise

2451
02:12:43,200 --> 02:12:46,640
and he arranged for him to have
an apprenticeship in a shop.

2452
02:12:46,640 --> 02:12:50,160
So now it seemed that
Cook was destined to spend his days

2453
02:12:50,160 --> 02:12:52,800
weighing out cheeses and herrings.

2454
02:12:52,800 --> 02:12:57,200
But he also spent time listening
to stories from the old seafarers.

2455
02:12:57,200 --> 02:13:00,960
And legend has it that
one day, one of them paid him

2456
02:13:00,960 --> 02:13:04,560
with a shiny, South Sea shilling

2457
02:13:04,560 --> 02:13:07,440
and that was the call.

2458
02:13:07,440 --> 02:13:09,720
BRIGHT MUSIC

2459
02:13:09,720 --> 02:13:11,600
'The Age of the Great Explorers was

2460
02:13:11,600 --> 02:13:14,240
'one of the most dramatic
in history.'

2461
02:13:14,240 --> 02:13:15,960
Ooh!

2462
02:13:15,960 --> 02:13:18,360
'When men risked their lives...'

2463
02:13:18,360 --> 02:13:21,080
Cast orff and set sail.
Whoa!

2464
02:13:21,080 --> 02:13:24,760
Take up on the peak!
'..to seek new lands.'

2465
02:13:24,760 --> 02:13:27,040
We're somewhere north
of the dog's arse.

2466
02:13:27,040 --> 02:13:28,480
Where the camera gone? Hello.

2467
02:13:28,480 --> 02:13:32,120
They crossed thousands of miles
of treacherous ocean,

2468
02:13:32,120 --> 02:13:35,720
they built floating fortresses,
they mapped the stars,

2469
02:13:35,720 --> 02:13:39,200
they developed
whole new branches of science.

2470
02:13:39,200 --> 02:13:40,440
Eurgh! Absolute pish.

2471
02:13:40,440 --> 02:13:45,040
'But were these explorers really
heroes or just a bunch of chancers?'

2472
02:13:45,040 --> 02:13:47,560
It's a miracle
he found anything at all, really.

2473
02:13:47,560 --> 02:13:50,560
Completely made-up,
the man was a charlatan.

2474
02:13:50,560 --> 02:13:52,920
'And is their legacy
one of triumph...'

2475
02:13:52,920 --> 02:13:54,680
Ooh!

2476
02:13:54,680 --> 02:13:56,960
'..or destruction?'
Crikey.

2477
02:13:56,960 --> 02:13:59,840
Now it's turning a little bit dark.

2478
02:13:59,840 --> 02:14:02,400
'I'm doing a bit of discovering
of my own...'

2479
02:14:03,600 --> 02:14:04,960
Unbelievably terrible.

2480
02:14:04,960 --> 02:14:08,480
Medieval sat-nav 2.0, a stick.

2481
02:14:08,480 --> 02:14:10,840
Oh, has he just shat on my trousers?
PIG SQUEALS

2482
02:14:10,840 --> 02:14:14,200
'..to learn how these explorers
conquered the oceans...'

2483
02:14:14,200 --> 02:14:15,480
Look at that.

2484
02:14:15,480 --> 02:14:16,760
I love it.

2485
02:14:16,760 --> 02:14:18,200
Nobody panic yet.

2486
02:14:18,200 --> 02:14:21,000
It's not just a map, it's a weapon!

2487
02:14:21,000 --> 02:14:23,680
'..and change the world forever.'
Whoa!

2488
02:14:23,680 --> 02:14:25,640
Dial out!
Ah, gold!

2489
02:14:25,640 --> 02:14:28,640
If you were in the Navy now, the
French would definitely have got us.

2490
02:14:28,640 --> 02:14:30,000
HE LAUGHS

2491
02:14:36,680 --> 02:14:38,560
SHATTERING

2492
02:14:38,560 --> 02:14:40,960
GULLS CALLING

2493
02:14:40,960 --> 02:14:45,680
'You join me at an exciting time,
viewers - the 18th Century.'

2494
02:14:47,160 --> 02:14:49,680
It was an age of wonder.

2495
02:14:49,680 --> 02:14:52,280
The mysteries of science
were being revealed,

2496
02:14:52,280 --> 02:14:55,880
the Industrial Revolution
was just around the corner.

2497
02:14:55,880 --> 02:14:57,800
And into this knowledge-hungry world

2498
02:14:57,800 --> 02:15:01,440
stepped a sailor
of extraordinary abilities.

2499
02:15:01,440 --> 02:15:04,120
His voyages would bring
massive advancements

2500
02:15:04,120 --> 02:15:08,160
in geography, navigation,
biology, medicine.

2501
02:15:08,160 --> 02:15:12,240
He would chart the final
unknown third of the globe

2502
02:15:12,240 --> 02:15:16,640
and he was also the last
great explorer of the Age of Sail.

2503
02:15:16,640 --> 02:15:20,080
He was Captain James Cook.

2504
02:15:20,080 --> 02:15:22,800
'Today, he divides opinion

2505
02:15:22,800 --> 02:15:25,880
'and in some parts of the world,
he's known as "Captain Crook".

2506
02:15:27,000 --> 02:15:29,000
'But back in 1746,

2507
02:15:29,000 --> 02:15:33,280
'he was just a 17-year-old
shopkeeper, longing to go to sea.

2508
02:15:34,720 --> 02:15:37,000
'And Whitby docks
in England's North East was

2509
02:15:37,000 --> 02:15:37,680
'the right place to be.

2510
02:15:38,960 --> 02:15:42,800
'Cook wangled himself
an apprenticeship on the coal ships

2511
02:15:42,800 --> 02:15:45,760
'and moved into the attic
of a local ship owner

2512
02:15:45,760 --> 02:15:49,400
'where he stayed up late each night,
poring over his books.'

2513
02:15:51,040 --> 02:15:55,600
Now, in Cook's time, Whitby was a
sort of a mariners' university town,

2514
02:15:55,600 --> 02:16:00,000
or it was referred to at the time
as the "nursery of the sea".

2515
02:16:00,000 --> 02:16:02,800
And considering how young
these apprentices would have been,

2516
02:16:02,800 --> 02:16:05,560
they did some remarkable homework.

2517
02:16:05,560 --> 02:16:09,880
'Being a sailor wasn't
all hauling ropes and guzzling rum -

2518
02:16:09,880 --> 02:16:12,480
'you had to be an A-plus student.'

2519
02:16:12,480 --> 02:16:15,920
It's full of
very complicated geometry,

2520
02:16:15,920 --> 02:16:19,360
mathematical calculations
about sailing and direction.

2521
02:16:19,360 --> 02:16:21,200
It's incredible.

2522
02:16:21,200 --> 02:16:23,920
And then right at the back,
when all else has failed -

2523
02:16:23,920 --> 02:16:28,240
geometry, astronomy -
there is a psalm.

2524
02:16:28,240 --> 02:16:30,160
A psalm for you to sing. Psalm 28.

2525
02:16:31,520 --> 02:16:37,960
'O Lord my rock to thee I cry
in sighs consume my breath.

2526
02:16:37,960 --> 02:16:42,880
'O answer or I shall become
like those that sleep in death.'

2527
02:16:44,920 --> 02:16:49,320
I didn't write that in the back of
my exercise books when I was a boy.

2528
02:16:49,320 --> 02:16:52,960
I drew pictures of flying cars
with machine guns on them.

2529
02:16:54,320 --> 02:16:57,560
'Young sailors of a delicate
disposition would not last long

2530
02:16:57,560 --> 02:17:01,960
'working the coal boats
on the perilous North Sea shore.'

2531
02:17:01,960 --> 02:17:05,240
This coast is strewn
with rocks and reefs.

2532
02:17:05,240 --> 02:17:09,640
Throw into that frequent fog,
wild storms, dangerous currents,

2533
02:17:09,640 --> 02:17:12,760
this is some of
the toughest sailing in the world.

2534
02:17:12,760 --> 02:17:14,720
Cook spent nine years here

2535
02:17:14,720 --> 02:17:17,600
learning to be
an expert sailor and navigator.

2536
02:17:18,920 --> 02:17:21,480
'But the coal run
wasn't enough for young Cook.

2537
02:17:21,480 --> 02:17:25,880
'He was envious of the dashing,
bewigged, naval officers he saw,

2538
02:17:25,880 --> 02:17:28,960
'fresh from adventures
in the Pacific South Seas.

2539
02:17:28,960 --> 02:17:34,120
'So, in 1755, aged 26,
he signed up for the Navy.'

2540
02:17:35,760 --> 02:17:37,720
Winston Churchill famously said

2541
02:17:37,720 --> 02:17:41,680
that life in the Royal Navy
was all "rum, sodomy and the lash",

2542
02:17:41,680 --> 02:17:45,160
and Dr Johnson said that a man
at sea was effectively in prison

2543
02:17:45,160 --> 02:17:47,520
but with the added risk of drowning.

2544
02:17:47,520 --> 02:17:50,560
"A man in prison," he said,
"had more space, better food

2545
02:17:50,560 --> 02:17:52,280
"and, commonly, better company."

2546
02:17:52,280 --> 02:17:54,640
'Right. All aboard.'

2547
02:17:54,640 --> 02:17:59,320
'This is the Bessie Ellen. Roughly
the same length as Cook's ships,

2548
02:17:59,320 --> 02:18:02,360
'but a mere youngster
at 120 years old.'

2549
02:18:02,360 --> 02:18:04,880
Right, crew, chop-chop.

2550
02:18:04,880 --> 02:18:08,680
OK, Tommy, go out on the bow sprit
and take off the gaskets.

2551
02:18:11,040 --> 02:18:15,440
'After nine years at sea, Cook
was able to command a ship himself.

2552
02:18:15,440 --> 02:18:17,880
'But that meant diddly squat
in the Navy.

2553
02:18:17,880 --> 02:18:20,680
'He had to start from the bottom,
like me.

2554
02:18:20,680 --> 02:18:23,240
'My commanding officer
is Nikki Alford...'

2555
02:18:23,240 --> 02:18:27,880
C'mon, Kim, put some effort into it.
'..and she runs a tight ship.'

2556
02:18:29,840 --> 02:18:31,840
So, hierarchy on board,

2557
02:18:31,840 --> 02:18:34,200
er, the captain, that's you,
is the boss. Yeah.

2558
02:18:34,200 --> 02:18:35,680
But it doesn't matter
who's on board.

2559
02:18:35,680 --> 02:18:37,000
If the king was on board,

2560
02:18:37,000 --> 02:18:38,920
you're still the boss.
That's true.

2561
02:18:38,920 --> 02:18:40,840
Yeah. Can you have Tom,
the director, flogged,

2562
02:18:40,840 --> 02:18:43,560
is that possible?
Well, possibly.

2563
02:18:43,560 --> 02:18:45,920
Right.
It's not a democracy.

2564
02:18:45,920 --> 02:18:47,880
So, when Cook made
that massive decision

2565
02:18:47,880 --> 02:18:51,520
to go and be just a lowly able
seaman, he was 26 years old,

2566
02:18:51,520 --> 02:18:55,400
so I mean in Navy terms,
that's quite middle-aged, isn't it?

2567
02:18:55,400 --> 02:18:58,080
Yeah. Yeah, it was.
But it must have been quite hard

2568
02:18:58,080 --> 02:19:03,880
for him being an old, knowledgeable,
already master of his own ship. Yes.

2569
02:19:03,880 --> 02:19:06,160
And there were
quite strict punishments.

2570
02:19:06,160 --> 02:19:07,480
Yeah, afraid so.

2571
02:19:07,480 --> 02:19:10,320
Hanging for insubordination.

2572
02:19:10,320 --> 02:19:11,440
Flogging...
Yes.

2573
02:19:11,440 --> 02:19:13,800
Cat o' nine tails.
It was a pretty mean life.

2574
02:19:13,800 --> 02:19:15,320
Erm...
DOG BARKS

2575
02:19:15,320 --> 02:19:16,880
Where did the dog come
in the hierarchy?

2576
02:19:16,880 --> 02:19:19,240
Most important crew member on board.

2577
02:19:19,240 --> 02:19:21,600
I'm talking to you
and asking you a lot of questions

2578
02:19:21,600 --> 02:19:23,640
because I suspect that
when this exchange ends,

2579
02:19:23,640 --> 02:19:27,200
you're going to give me some...
seaman-like jobs to do.

2580
02:19:27,200 --> 02:19:29,960
Enough chatting
and let's get this boat sailing.

2581
02:19:31,880 --> 02:19:33,520
'I've filibustered all I can.

2582
02:19:33,520 --> 02:19:37,280
'Time to impress the captain
with my naval know-how.'

2583
02:19:37,280 --> 02:19:39,040
OK, so, this is the mainsail

2584
02:19:39,040 --> 02:19:40,680
and the mizen is the...
No, no, no, no, no.

2585
02:19:40,680 --> 02:19:41,720
No?
Come on, wake up.

2586
02:19:41,720 --> 02:19:45,760
I do motorboats.
Engines. Brilliant invention.

2587
02:19:45,760 --> 02:19:47,800
We'll make a sailor of you
before the end of the day.

2588
02:19:47,800 --> 02:19:51,080
Right.
And we'll get you on the halyards.

2589
02:19:51,080 --> 02:19:54,760
They're over there, aren't they?
Well, I hope so.

2590
02:19:54,760 --> 02:19:59,160
'Suddenly, a spot of rum, sodomy,
and the lash seems preferable...

2591
02:19:59,160 --> 02:20:02,800
'especially as I really ought to be
in the sick bay.'

2592
02:20:02,800 --> 02:20:05,160
I need to explain that a few days
ago,

2593
02:20:05,160 --> 02:20:07,440
I fell off my bicycle
and slightly spaffed this arm,

2594
02:20:07,440 --> 02:20:09,520
which is... a great excuse.

2595
02:20:09,520 --> 02:20:12,040
Right, landlubber.
You can do this easy one.

2596
02:20:12,040 --> 02:20:13,920
Jump up there, and undo the knot.

2597
02:20:13,920 --> 02:20:17,000
'Cook, of course, could have done
all this in his sleep.'

2598
02:20:17,000 --> 02:20:19,360
Right, this one?
Crew, stand by.

2599
02:20:19,360 --> 02:20:21,720
'Me, not so much.'
Right.

2600
02:20:21,720 --> 02:20:24,960
'First, you have to release
the flappy white thing.'

2601
02:20:24,960 --> 02:20:28,720
Whoa!
Weyy. Take up on the peak.

2602
02:20:28,720 --> 02:20:31,400
'Then yank on a rope to get it up.'

2603
02:20:31,400 --> 02:20:34,320
God, have we got to pull it
all the way to the top? Yeah.

2604
02:20:34,320 --> 02:20:37,040
'Good teamwork is vital.'
I'm not really doing anything here.

2605
02:20:37,040 --> 02:20:39,400
CREW LAUGH

2606
02:20:39,400 --> 02:20:41,760
Put some effort into it.
Sorry.

2607
02:20:41,760 --> 02:20:43,280
I think
the dog does better than this.

2608
02:20:45,560 --> 02:20:46,920
'Mainsail raised...'

2609
02:20:46,920 --> 02:20:48,920
Four fifths of the way there.

2610
02:20:48,920 --> 02:20:52,280
OK, make fast the throat.
Carry on on the peak.

2611
02:20:54,480 --> 02:20:58,880
'..next up is the jib.
Speed is of the essence.'

2612
02:20:58,880 --> 02:21:01,800
James, take hold of the knot.
Now pull it.

2613
02:21:01,800 --> 02:21:03,360
There you go.
Oh!

2614
02:21:03,360 --> 02:21:05,560
Look at that.
Now keep pulling.

2615
02:21:07,360 --> 02:21:11,360
If you were in the Navy now, the
French would definitely have got us.

2616
02:21:11,360 --> 02:21:15,080
'With all Cook's skills, suddenly
being back near the bottom rung

2617
02:21:15,080 --> 02:21:17,920
'must have been pretty humiliating.'

2618
02:21:17,920 --> 02:21:21,440
I've done a double gunner's
daughter and a half shank.

2619
02:21:21,440 --> 02:21:24,440
I'll look that one up.
SHE LAUGHS

2620
02:21:26,040 --> 02:21:28,720
'Able seamen had to muck in
with everything.

2621
02:21:28,720 --> 02:21:31,080
'There were
no bogs or running water,

2622
02:21:31,080 --> 02:21:33,840
'so if you wanted to drink,
wash or cook,

2623
02:21:33,840 --> 02:21:36,200
'you needed one of these...'
There we go.

2624
02:21:36,200 --> 02:21:38,800
Oh, shot.
Yeah. It's lunchtime,

2625
02:21:38,800 --> 02:21:41,240
so we have to pull up
a bucket of seawater

2626
02:21:41,240 --> 02:21:43,240
and start chopping potatoes.

2627
02:21:43,240 --> 02:21:46,520
'Nikki's finally found
a job more my level.'

2628
02:21:46,520 --> 02:21:48,320
DOG GROWLS
No, Bracken.

2629
02:21:48,320 --> 02:21:51,240
Whoa, look at that! Bounty!

2630
02:21:51,240 --> 02:21:53,120
You can choose
what you want for lunch.

2631
02:21:53,120 --> 02:21:56,040
Well, it looks like
it's gonna be potatoes and onions.

2632
02:21:56,040 --> 02:21:57,720
DOG GROWLS

2633
02:21:57,720 --> 02:22:00,520
What's wrong with the dog?
SHE LAUGHS

2634
02:22:02,520 --> 02:22:04,800
Why does it?
Why does he hate that bucket?

2635
02:22:04,800 --> 02:22:06,360
He just hates buckets.

2636
02:22:08,120 --> 02:22:10,600
James, if you get the potatoes
and start peeling,

2637
02:22:10,600 --> 02:22:12,880
we'll get another bucket.
Aye-aye.

2638
02:22:12,880 --> 02:22:14,400
Bracken! Enough!

2639
02:22:18,480 --> 02:22:20,120
He's really angry.

2640
02:22:20,120 --> 02:22:21,640
GROWLING

2641
02:22:21,640 --> 02:22:25,040
'Now, I've proven myself
a bit of an unable seaman,

2642
02:22:25,040 --> 02:22:29,720
'but Cook, of course, was the very
model of a modern master mariner.'

2643
02:22:29,720 --> 02:22:32,920
Within two years,
he was a ship's master,

2644
02:22:32,920 --> 02:22:35,320
which meant
he was in charge of navigation

2645
02:22:35,320 --> 02:22:37,000
under the direction of the captain.

2646
02:22:37,000 --> 02:22:40,320
That was a big job
and a very, very important one.

2647
02:22:40,320 --> 02:22:43,600
Trouble is, Cook's career
then sort of ran aground a bit

2648
02:22:43,600 --> 02:22:47,920
because only the posh kids
could become commissioned officers,

2649
02:22:47,920 --> 02:22:50,280
and obviously, he wasn't a posh kid.

2650
02:22:50,280 --> 02:22:54,080
So he'd arrived
at the class glass ceiling.

2651
02:22:54,080 --> 02:22:57,800
He'd gone as far as, effectively,
being a non-commissioned officer.

2652
02:22:57,800 --> 02:23:00,000
Bit quicker on the potatoes.

2653
02:23:01,160 --> 02:23:03,520
'But you can't keep
a good swot down.

2654
02:23:03,520 --> 02:23:06,920
'Cook was destined
for far greater things.'

2655
02:23:06,920 --> 02:23:09,280
GROWLING
No! Bracken!

2656
02:23:15,400 --> 02:23:19,200
'That's quite enough shore leave,
viewers. Get back to work at once.'

2657
02:23:19,200 --> 02:23:20,840
Hurry up, we haven't got all day!

2658
02:23:22,000 --> 02:23:24,800
'Dreaming of the Pacific South Seas,

2659
02:23:24,800 --> 02:23:27,560
'young James Cook
had joined the Navy.

2660
02:23:27,560 --> 02:23:30,560
'But he wasn't going
to the South Seas on his first trip,

2661
02:23:30,560 --> 02:23:32,840
'he was going to war.'

2662
02:23:32,840 --> 02:23:33,880
Fire!

2663
02:23:37,680 --> 02:23:40,560
Now, you join me
below decks with some charts.

2664
02:23:40,560 --> 02:23:43,720
And the year is 1759.

2665
02:23:43,720 --> 02:23:46,720
Britain is having a massive scrap
with France over Canada.

2666
02:23:46,720 --> 02:23:49,080
And the French held Quebec.

2667
02:23:49,080 --> 02:23:51,080
And the British
wanted to mount an assault,

2668
02:23:51,080 --> 02:23:53,280
but doing it
was proving extremely difficult.

2669
02:23:54,400 --> 02:23:55,800
'The Brits were desperate

2670
02:23:55,800 --> 02:23:59,280
'for a sneaky way
to attack Quebec and take Canada.

2671
02:23:59,280 --> 02:24:01,560
'And Cook was
about to find them one,

2672
02:24:01,560 --> 02:24:04,800
'using his superpower - geometry.'

2673
02:24:04,800 --> 02:24:08,040
Cook went off and charted all this.

2674
02:24:08,040 --> 02:24:10,360
He charted all the elevations,
he did depth sounding,

2675
02:24:10,360 --> 02:24:11,880
all this stuff to produce

2676
02:24:11,880 --> 02:24:16,120
really a fantastically,
magnificently accurate chart.

2677
02:24:17,040 --> 02:24:18,320
'Using Cook's chart,

2678
02:24:18,320 --> 02:24:22,000
'the British ships sailed
all the way upriver past Quebec,

2679
02:24:22,000 --> 02:24:24,360
'the soldiers mounted
a sneak attack,

2680
02:24:24,360 --> 02:24:26,960
'and the French -
quelle surprise - surrendered.'

2681
02:24:28,320 --> 02:24:30,240
So, this chart that he produced,

2682
02:24:30,240 --> 02:24:33,360
it's not really just a map,
it's a weapon!

2683
02:24:33,360 --> 02:24:37,200
And it made Cook famous, his name
became a buzzword in London.

2684
02:24:37,200 --> 02:24:42,120
And pretty soon, he was asked
to go and chart all of Newfoundland,

2685
02:24:42,120 --> 02:24:43,280
which he did.

2686
02:24:43,280 --> 02:24:48,760
And remarkably, here,
on this acetate sheet,

2687
02:24:48,760 --> 02:24:52,080
I have a modern map of Newfoundland.

2688
02:24:52,080 --> 02:24:53,920
Now, that's been established

2689
02:24:53,920 --> 02:24:56,400
with satellites,
satnav, geo-positioning,

2690
02:24:56,400 --> 02:24:57,840
all that sort of stuff.

2691
02:24:57,840 --> 02:25:01,640
If I lay the modern one
over Cook's work...

2692
02:25:03,080 --> 02:25:06,880
..it is astonishingly accurate.

2693
02:25:08,480 --> 02:25:13,400
This actually isn't a chart,
this is a love poem in geometry.

2694
02:25:15,000 --> 02:25:16,800
Pretty bloody good.

2695
02:25:16,800 --> 02:25:19,360
'Cook's charts were so accurate,

2696
02:25:19,360 --> 02:25:22,040
'they were in use
for a further 200 years -

2697
02:25:22,040 --> 02:25:25,560
'and we'll see later on
just how he did it.'

2698
02:25:25,560 --> 02:25:28,800
Cook was granted
the title of "King's Surveyor".

2699
02:25:28,800 --> 02:25:31,240
That was the highest office
of surveyor you could attain

2700
02:25:31,240 --> 02:25:33,120
unless you were gonna become
God's Surveyor.

2701
02:25:33,120 --> 02:25:36,760
But his greatest adventures
still lay before him

2702
02:25:36,760 --> 02:25:40,440
because a third of the globe...
still needed to be charted.

2703
02:25:41,600 --> 02:25:43,160
Aah!

2704
02:25:43,160 --> 02:25:45,560
'Sorry,
I'm absolutely ruddered on rum.'

2705
02:25:47,360 --> 02:25:49,840
'At the other end
of the social spectrum, meanwhile,

2706
02:25:49,840 --> 02:25:53,800
'was another young science bod
looking to make his name...'

2707
02:25:53,800 --> 02:25:56,720
This is the Chelsea Physic Garden,

2708
02:25:56,720 --> 02:26:01,040
where a young man called
Joseph Banks came to study botany.

2709
02:26:01,040 --> 02:26:02,440
Now, he wasn't a typical student,

2710
02:26:02,440 --> 02:26:06,280
he was a very wealthy
playboy roustabout type

2711
02:26:06,280 --> 02:26:08,640
who'd inherited
a fortune from his father.

2712
02:26:08,640 --> 02:26:12,680
But he was very passionate
about his subject,

2713
02:26:12,680 --> 02:26:17,440
he was very meticulous,
and he bloody loved a pot plant.

2714
02:26:17,440 --> 02:26:21,760
'Banks saw thrilling new plants
from all around the world

2715
02:26:21,760 --> 02:26:23,200
'turning up here at Chelsea,

2716
02:26:23,200 --> 02:26:25,680
'and he decided to make a name
for himself

2717
02:26:25,680 --> 02:26:28,480
'by going and finding
some of his own.'

2718
02:26:28,480 --> 02:26:31,240
So, what he did,
since he was well minted,

2719
02:26:31,240 --> 02:26:33,600
was to buy his way
into an expedition

2720
02:26:33,600 --> 02:26:35,960
that had been organised
by the admiralty

2721
02:26:35,960 --> 02:26:38,720
and the Royal Society
to the Pacific.

2722
02:26:38,720 --> 02:26:44,600
He contributed £10,000 -
about 1.5 million in today's money.

2723
02:26:44,600 --> 02:26:45,960
Now, other young men of the time

2724
02:26:45,960 --> 02:26:49,880
were embarking on
the accepted grand tour of Europe,

2725
02:26:49,880 --> 02:26:52,880
but Banks said that
this was for blockheads.

2726
02:26:52,880 --> 02:26:56,240
"My grand tour," he said,
"will be of the world."

2727
02:26:59,000 --> 02:27:00,800
'The official purpose of this voyage

2728
02:27:00,800 --> 02:27:04,280
'was to travel to
the South Pacific island of Tahiti

2729
02:27:04,280 --> 02:27:06,840
'and study
a rare astronomical event -

2730
02:27:06,840 --> 02:27:09,880
'Venus passing in front of the sun.

2731
02:27:09,880 --> 02:27:12,760
'But there was
a second, top-secret mission.

2732
02:27:12,760 --> 02:27:16,480
'The bigwigs at the Admiralty
had much grander plans

2733
02:27:16,480 --> 02:27:18,920
'that would only be revealed
later on.

2734
02:27:18,920 --> 02:27:24,400
'Plans that would need a captain who
was especially talented at charting.

2735
02:27:24,400 --> 02:27:28,840
'Cook was finally going
to the South Seas.

2736
02:27:28,840 --> 02:27:33,320
'Now, what vessel would he be taking
on this historic voyage?

2737
02:27:33,320 --> 02:27:38,200
'A sleek Merchantman, perhaps?
A 24-gun naval frigate?'

2738
02:27:38,200 --> 02:27:39,840
KAZOOS PLAYING

2739
02:27:45,280 --> 02:27:49,600
No, it was one of these,
his old mate the Whitby coal ship.

2740
02:27:49,600 --> 02:27:51,320
Blunt nosed, purposeful.

2741
02:27:51,320 --> 02:27:52,840
If they'd been around at the time,

2742
02:27:52,840 --> 02:27:56,160
somebody would have called it
the Land Rover of the Seas.

2743
02:27:56,160 --> 02:28:00,120
Top speed, eight knots,
eight nautical miles an hour.

2744
02:28:00,120 --> 02:28:02,600
Average speed more like four knots.

2745
02:28:02,600 --> 02:28:06,280
Cook would be going
around the world, 25,000 miles,

2746
02:28:06,280 --> 02:28:08,160
at a brisk walk.

2747
02:28:08,160 --> 02:28:09,200
Something like this.

2748
02:28:10,880 --> 02:28:12,920
All the way to Tahiti.

2749
02:28:12,920 --> 02:28:15,280
'This ship is just a replica,

2750
02:28:15,280 --> 02:28:18,080
'but the same size
as the real Endeavour -

2751
02:28:18,080 --> 02:28:22,040
'just 105 feet for 95 sailors.'

2752
02:28:22,040 --> 02:28:24,400
The great thing
about using a coal ship is that

2753
02:28:24,400 --> 02:28:26,440
if you're not required to carry
the coal,

2754
02:28:26,440 --> 02:28:29,840
there is a great deal of space
on board for stuff.

2755
02:28:29,840 --> 02:28:31,720
And they brought a lot of stuff.

2756
02:28:33,520 --> 02:28:35,200
Permission to come aboard, skipper?

2757
02:28:36,640 --> 02:28:37,760
Thank you.

2758
02:28:37,760 --> 02:28:40,240
BEEP
By the way, if you're still running,

2759
02:28:40,240 --> 02:28:43,160
Endeavour didn't have a door
in the side like this.

2760
02:28:43,160 --> 02:28:45,760
You'd have to go, you know...
This is not accurate.

2761
02:28:49,280 --> 02:28:52,560
'Nor is this cafe bit.
Keep moving. Four knots.'

2762
02:28:52,560 --> 02:28:55,320
Up here, aft, below the poop deck...

2763
02:28:57,120 --> 02:29:01,520
'That's better.
Except it looks far too tidy.'

2764
02:29:01,520 --> 02:29:06,040
Banks brought along
tons of books, hooks, nets,

2765
02:29:06,040 --> 02:29:09,880
hunting equipment,
big barrels of preserving fluids,

2766
02:29:09,880 --> 02:29:14,280
salts, waxes, everything you need
for all that botanical guff.

2767
02:29:14,280 --> 02:29:16,720
And it's said
that the value of his kit

2768
02:29:16,720 --> 02:29:19,720
was roughly twice that
of the ship itself.

2769
02:29:19,720 --> 02:29:23,040
'Banks immediately demanded
use of the Captain's quarters

2770
02:29:23,040 --> 02:29:24,760
'for his science-ing.

2771
02:29:24,760 --> 02:29:27,240
'Cook told him they could share.'

2772
02:29:27,240 --> 02:29:30,400
But of course, Banks was a toff,

2773
02:29:30,400 --> 02:29:33,840
and he'd also done a great deal
to finance the whole expedition,

2774
02:29:33,840 --> 02:29:36,160
so he couldn't really turn him down.

2775
02:29:37,640 --> 02:29:40,320
Although I would have been tempted.

2776
02:29:40,320 --> 02:29:44,400
'Cooped up on a ship,
tempers can easily fray.'

2777
02:29:44,400 --> 02:29:47,400
He already sounds like
an irritating BLEEP, Joseph Banks.

2778
02:29:47,400 --> 02:29:48,720
LAUGHTER

2779
02:29:48,720 --> 02:29:51,080
'So, Cook took it upon himself
to make sure

2780
02:29:51,080 --> 02:29:56,280
'all his sailors were as happy and
jolly as jolly sailor boys can be.'

2781
02:29:56,280 --> 02:29:59,320
Cook clearly cared
about the welfare of his men.

2782
02:29:59,320 --> 02:30:01,160
In the Royal Navy,
the jolly sailor boys

2783
02:30:01,160 --> 02:30:03,680
worked four hours on,
four hours off.

2784
02:30:03,680 --> 02:30:07,400
But Cook's crew enjoyed
four hours on, eight hours off.

2785
02:30:07,400 --> 02:30:09,720
He insisted that
they ate their greens,

2786
02:30:09,720 --> 02:30:11,480
that they aired their bedding,

2787
02:30:11,480 --> 02:30:15,280
that they washed themselves
in lovely, fresh, salty seawater.

2788
02:30:15,280 --> 02:30:18,680
And he was also very keen
on vigorous exercise.

2789
02:30:18,680 --> 02:30:22,760
And to make exercise more "fun",
he brought along some musicians

2790
02:30:22,760 --> 02:30:25,480
and made the sailors
dance the hornpipe.

2791
02:30:25,480 --> 02:30:27,360
THEY PLAY
'BARNACLE BILL'

2792
02:30:40,080 --> 02:30:42,360
'They had to do this every day.'

2793
02:30:45,480 --> 02:30:47,960
'Every. Single. Day.'

2794
02:30:52,680 --> 02:30:54,080
Bravo.

2795
02:30:54,080 --> 02:30:56,440
You have to remember that
for the people of England,

2796
02:30:56,440 --> 02:31:01,280
things like yoga and Pilates of the
Caribbean hadn't been invented yet.

2797
02:31:03,920 --> 02:31:06,400
That's a shit joke.
No it's not, it's really good.

2798
02:31:06,400 --> 02:31:09,160
'I'm here all week, folks.
Try the sea biscuit.'

2799
02:31:10,360 --> 02:31:12,040
'Ah, this is more like it.

2800
02:31:12,040 --> 02:31:14,480
Even more vital to on-board morale

2801
02:31:14,480 --> 02:31:17,200
'than the incessant shrieking
of Satan's own song

2802
02:31:17,200 --> 02:31:20,560
'was alcohol - and lots of it.'

2803
02:31:20,560 --> 02:31:23,640
Details of the amount of booze
on board the Endeavour

2804
02:31:23,640 --> 02:31:26,600
are, unsurprisingly, a bit vague.

2805
02:31:26,600 --> 02:31:29,240
And I say "unsurprisingly"
because, as you'll see in a moment,

2806
02:31:29,240 --> 02:31:32,680
everybody on board
was absolutely gang-planked.

2807
02:31:32,680 --> 02:31:37,000
For the men, there was a ration
of half a pint of rum twice a day,

2808
02:31:37,000 --> 02:31:39,360
once at noon, once at 6pm.

2809
02:31:39,360 --> 02:31:44,080
They could instead, or maybe as
well as, have eight pints of beer.

2810
02:31:44,080 --> 02:31:45,760
And if you were a "hossifer",

2811
02:31:45,760 --> 02:31:48,840
you could have
a pint and a half of red wine.

2812
02:31:48,840 --> 02:31:50,920
'And that's just a normal day.

2813
02:31:50,920 --> 02:31:54,760
'On special occasions,
they got completely barnacled.'

2814
02:31:54,760 --> 02:31:57,320
The very polite Captain Cook says,

2815
02:31:57,320 --> 02:31:59,320
"Yesterday being Christmas Day,

2816
02:31:59,320 --> 02:32:02,520
the people were
none of the soberest."

2817
02:32:02,520 --> 02:32:07,040
Joseph Banks, on the same day, says,
"All hands got abominably drunk.

2818
02:32:07,040 --> 02:32:09,400
"Wind, thank God, very moderate

2819
02:32:09,400 --> 02:32:12,280
"or the Lord knows
what would have become of us."

2820
02:32:12,280 --> 02:32:15,480
And I sort of get it, to be honest,
because if you woke up every day,

2821
02:32:15,480 --> 02:32:18,680
knowing you'd have to spend it
with the same crew,

2822
02:32:18,680 --> 02:32:20,520
you'd wanna get pretty keel-hauled.

2823
02:32:21,600 --> 02:32:23,520
By the way, I should explain that

2824
02:32:23,520 --> 02:32:26,120
I've had a bit of an accident
and fractured my wrist,

2825
02:32:26,120 --> 02:32:29,480
but it's OK
because the nurse who set it for me

2826
02:32:29,480 --> 02:32:32,000
did it
in the beer-drinking position.

2827
02:32:32,000 --> 02:32:34,880
So, it only remains for me to say,

2828
02:32:34,880 --> 02:32:37,960
ow, "Cheers, me hearties."

2829
02:32:37,960 --> 02:32:39,760
BEEP
Have you definitely cut?

2830
02:32:39,760 --> 02:32:42,160
Yeah. Right.
I'm gonna have a few of these pints.

2831
02:32:42,160 --> 02:32:44,800
Actually, I'm the officer,
I'm having the wine.

2832
02:32:44,800 --> 02:32:46,520
You lot can have
the beer and the rum.

2833
02:32:49,000 --> 02:32:51,840
'So, science stuff - check.

2834
02:32:51,840 --> 02:32:54,400
'Hornpiper - check.

2835
02:32:54,400 --> 02:32:57,600
'Enough alcohol
to drown a hornpiper - check.'

2836
02:32:58,680 --> 02:33:00,560
'Just one last thing...'

2837
02:33:00,560 --> 02:33:03,000
Cook, of course,
was not yet a captain.

2838
02:33:03,000 --> 02:33:05,960
He had to be hastily commissioned
so that he could give orders.

2839
02:33:05,960 --> 02:33:09,920
And give orders he did. The orders
were to 'cast orff and set sail'.

2840
02:33:09,920 --> 02:33:13,280
95 permanently sloshed sailors
did that,

2841
02:33:13,280 --> 02:33:16,920
and the Endeavour would be
their home for the next three years.

2842
02:33:16,920 --> 02:33:18,880
'BARNACLE BILL' PLAYS

2843
02:33:21,320 --> 02:33:22,560
'Dear God.'

2844
02:33:25,160 --> 02:33:27,880
'At an average four knots,
they bimbled their way

2845
02:33:27,880 --> 02:33:30,240
'to Rio in Brazil
for some repairs,

2846
02:33:30,240 --> 02:33:32,960
'saw their first penguins
off the Falklands,

2847
02:33:32,960 --> 02:33:37,360
'and rounded Cape Horn
into the mysterious Pacific Ocean.

2848
02:33:37,360 --> 02:33:41,280
'Finally, in 1769,
after eight months at sea,

2849
02:33:41,280 --> 02:33:43,720
'the Endeavour reached Tahiti.

2850
02:33:44,880 --> 02:33:48,960
'The paradise beaches were
a dream come true for the sailors -

2851
02:33:48,960 --> 02:33:52,560
'not least because they'd heard
rumours from a previous voyage

2852
02:33:52,560 --> 02:33:54,920
'that it was
full of beautiful women

2853
02:33:54,920 --> 02:33:58,320
'who would offer sex for
the price of a single iron nail.'

2854
02:33:59,480 --> 02:34:01,960
Cook was very worried
about his sailors

2855
02:34:01,960 --> 02:34:04,360
spreading
sexually-transmitted diseases,

2856
02:34:04,360 --> 02:34:06,320
and he gave them all
a stern talking to,

2857
02:34:06,320 --> 02:34:08,200
like that rather awkward one you got

2858
02:34:08,200 --> 02:34:10,560
from a teacher
at sixth form college.

2859
02:34:10,560 --> 02:34:12,200
There was another problem as well.

2860
02:34:12,200 --> 02:34:14,800
The last ship to arrive,
HMS Dolphin,

2861
02:34:14,800 --> 02:34:17,720
had quite literally
started falling apart

2862
02:34:17,720 --> 02:34:21,000
because the sailors
had nicked so many of these.

2863
02:34:21,000 --> 02:34:23,840
'Cook's little talk didn't work.

2864
02:34:23,840 --> 02:34:25,600
'Some of the sailors seemed to think

2865
02:34:25,600 --> 02:34:28,200
'they were
on a particularly thuggish stag do.

2866
02:34:28,200 --> 02:34:31,080
'The Tahitian people
remained friendly,

2867
02:34:31,080 --> 02:34:33,960
'but there was
another friction point.'

2868
02:34:33,960 --> 02:34:37,240
The ship's tools and equipment
kept going missing.

2869
02:34:37,240 --> 02:34:41,640
Even Cook himself had a pair of
his socks stolen from under his head

2870
02:34:41,640 --> 02:34:44,240
while he was having a crafty kip
on the beach.

2871
02:34:44,240 --> 02:34:45,800
But to the people of Tahiti,

2872
02:34:45,800 --> 02:34:48,840
European ideas
about possession and ownership

2873
02:34:48,840 --> 02:34:51,120
were completely meaningless.

2874
02:34:51,120 --> 02:34:52,640
But to try and get his stuff back,

2875
02:34:52,640 --> 02:34:55,720
Cook did things
like held canoes to ransom.

2876
02:34:55,720 --> 02:34:59,280
But unfortunately, the marines
were rather less patient than him,

2877
02:34:59,280 --> 02:35:01,400
and when a musket was taken,

2878
02:35:01,400 --> 02:35:04,840
they immediately shot
the perpetrator dead.

2879
02:35:04,840 --> 02:35:07,960
And that set
a rather unfortunate pattern

2880
02:35:07,960 --> 02:35:10,480
of things to come on Cook's voyages.

2881
02:35:11,880 --> 02:35:13,640
'Cook got down to business,

2882
02:35:13,640 --> 02:35:17,440
'building a mini-observatory
to study the transit of Venus.

2883
02:35:17,440 --> 02:35:19,800
'But when the moment finally came,

2884
02:35:19,800 --> 02:35:23,440
'Venus's thick, gassy atmosphere
blurred the outline

2885
02:35:23,440 --> 02:35:25,840
'and made their measurements
useless.'

2886
02:35:27,480 --> 02:35:30,080
The mission had been
a complete failure.

2887
02:35:30,080 --> 02:35:31,400
But it didn't actually matter

2888
02:35:31,400 --> 02:35:34,040
because all that stuff about Venus
was a load of old bollocks,

2889
02:35:34,040 --> 02:35:35,880
it was just a cover story, really.

2890
02:35:35,880 --> 02:35:39,080
'It was time to reveal
the real mission -

2891
02:35:39,080 --> 02:35:41,600
'top secret orders
from the Admiralty.'

2892
02:35:42,960 --> 02:35:45,400
'There is reason to imagine
that a continent,

2893
02:35:45,400 --> 02:35:50,320
'or land of great extent,
may be found to the Southward.

2894
02:35:50,320 --> 02:35:54,200
'You are hereby required
and directed to put to sea

2895
02:35:54,200 --> 02:35:56,600
'to make discovery
of that continent.'

2896
02:35:57,960 --> 02:35:59,200
The hunt was on.

2897
02:36:02,800 --> 02:36:04,840
'It's 1769.

2898
02:36:04,840 --> 02:36:07,960
'James Cook and the Endeavour
are on a top-secret mission

2899
02:36:07,960 --> 02:36:10,600
'to find new land
in the South Pacific.'

2900
02:36:10,600 --> 02:36:14,000
And it's that way... roughly.

2901
02:36:14,000 --> 02:36:16,360
'All the nations of Europe believed

2902
02:36:16,360 --> 02:36:18,640
'there was
a vast undiscovered continent

2903
02:36:18,640 --> 02:36:20,040
'in the southern hemisphere.

2904
02:36:20,040 --> 02:36:21,520
'And whoever got there first

2905
02:36:21,520 --> 02:36:24,640
'would be rich and powerful
beyond imagination.

2906
02:36:25,840 --> 02:36:29,280
'100 years before,
Dutch explorer Abel Tasman

2907
02:36:29,280 --> 02:36:32,280
'had spotted
the tip of a promising landmass,

2908
02:36:32,280 --> 02:36:35,360
'but no European
had ever set foot there.

2909
02:36:35,360 --> 02:36:39,280
'Cook was about to "discover"
New Zealand,

2910
02:36:39,280 --> 02:36:42,120
'to the surprise
of everyone already living there.

2911
02:36:42,120 --> 02:36:46,440
'For the scientists onboard,
this new land was a dream come true.

2912
02:36:46,440 --> 02:36:48,200
'Cook studied the landscape

2913
02:36:48,200 --> 02:36:50,760
'and Banks
the miraculous flora and fauna.

2914
02:36:50,760 --> 02:36:53,120
'And of course,
they met the people.'

2915
02:36:54,560 --> 02:36:56,080
Cook was, very obviously,

2916
02:36:56,080 --> 02:36:58,760
the first European to meet
the Maori people

2917
02:36:58,760 --> 02:37:00,600
and the first person to see a haka,

2918
02:37:00,600 --> 02:37:02,960
which probably scared
the crap out of him.

2919
02:37:02,960 --> 02:37:06,320
And it gets a bit worse from thereon
because when Cook's men went ashore,

2920
02:37:06,320 --> 02:37:10,040
they were approached
by a local leader called Te Maro,

2921
02:37:10,040 --> 02:37:12,680
and one of the sailors got
into a bit of a panic

2922
02:37:12,680 --> 02:37:14,760
and shot him... dead.

2923
02:37:14,760 --> 02:37:18,680
And then another Maori was
apparently reaching for his weapon,

2924
02:37:18,680 --> 02:37:21,920
so the ship's surgeon also had
a bit of a panic

2925
02:37:21,920 --> 02:37:24,200
and shot him... dead.

2926
02:37:24,200 --> 02:37:25,880
A bit of a pattern was emerging now,

2927
02:37:25,880 --> 02:37:28,800
namely panicking
and shooting people dead.

2928
02:37:28,800 --> 02:37:32,320
And it so happens that
actually, Sean, our cameraman,

2929
02:37:32,320 --> 02:37:36,200
is in fact, a Kiwi
and has Maori ancestry.

2930
02:37:36,200 --> 02:37:40,520
So we can ask him, is Cook a popular
figure in, well, your family

2931
02:37:40,520 --> 02:37:42,120
and in New Zealand in general?

2932
02:37:42,120 --> 02:37:43,640
I grew up in a Maori community,

2933
02:37:43,640 --> 02:37:46,920
and it was known
that our grandparents suffered.

2934
02:37:46,920 --> 02:37:49,440
They weren't allowed to speak
their own language at school.

2935
02:37:49,440 --> 02:37:51,800
My grandfather
was beaten for speaking

2936
02:37:51,800 --> 02:37:53,400
his own native language.
Really?

2937
02:37:53,400 --> 02:37:57,640
Where I grew up, there was a statue
of Cook, but it's been taken down.

2938
02:38:00,640 --> 02:38:03,360
'Six months on, Cook set sail again,

2939
02:38:03,360 --> 02:38:06,520
'following his nose
to the east coast of Australia -

2940
02:38:06,520 --> 02:38:08,800
'another first for any European.

2941
02:38:08,800 --> 02:38:11,160
'Banks was in his element.

2942
02:38:11,160 --> 02:38:15,760
'He saw his first dingo,
lorikeet, and mudskipper,

2943
02:38:15,760 --> 02:38:19,080
'and found so much botany
that they named a bay after it.

2944
02:38:20,200 --> 02:38:23,600
'The Indigenous Australians,
probably quite wisely,

2945
02:38:23,600 --> 02:38:26,640
'mostly avoided the strangers
on their shores.

2946
02:38:26,640 --> 02:38:30,160
'But for the Europeans,
this voyage would go down in history

2947
02:38:30,160 --> 02:38:33,320
'as one of the most remarkable
ever made...

2948
02:38:33,320 --> 02:38:36,120
'as long as
nothing terrible happened.'

2949
02:38:36,120 --> 02:38:39,840
One night, the Endeavour
was sailing serenely along

2950
02:38:39,840 --> 02:38:42,280
just off the northern coast
of Australia.

2951
02:38:42,280 --> 02:38:44,640
Captain Cook was sound asleep
in his bunk.

2952
02:38:44,640 --> 02:38:47,440
Suddenly,
the ship came to a juddering halt.

2953
02:38:47,440 --> 02:38:50,640
Men were throwing from their
hammocks, there was absolute chaos.

2954
02:38:50,640 --> 02:38:54,520
They had hit the Great Barrier Reef
and become stuck.

2955
02:38:55,920 --> 02:38:59,120
'The hull was ripped to pieces
on the sharp coral,

2956
02:38:59,120 --> 02:39:01,560
'but the crew managed to wrap
a sail under it

2957
02:39:01,560 --> 02:39:04,320
'to slow the water coming in
and make it to shore,

2958
02:39:04,320 --> 02:39:08,800
'where they would undertake the most
important repairs of their lives.'

2959
02:39:10,000 --> 02:39:14,920
Most expeditions went with multiple
ships, but Endeavour was by herself.

2960
02:39:14,920 --> 02:39:18,160
So if anything went wrong,
the crew faced a stark choice -

2961
02:39:18,160 --> 02:39:20,880
mend it or perish.

2962
02:39:22,200 --> 02:39:24,680
'Dunno about you,
but I'd choose mend it.

2963
02:39:24,680 --> 02:39:27,880
'Especially as it involves
two of my favourite things -

2964
02:39:27,880 --> 02:39:30,160
'wood and tools.'

2965
02:39:30,160 --> 02:39:32,040
WOOD PLANE SWISHING

2966
02:39:39,840 --> 02:39:44,240
We have scaled down the Endeavour
for the purposes of demonstration.

2967
02:39:44,240 --> 02:39:47,640
This is a wooden-hulled boat,
exactly as she was.

2968
02:39:49,400 --> 02:39:51,760
'I'm helping boatbuilder
Jordan Kimpton

2969
02:39:51,760 --> 02:39:54,600
'replace a plank
on the good ship Shrinkle.'

2970
02:39:54,600 --> 02:39:57,080
Good afternoon.
Hello.

2971
02:39:57,080 --> 02:39:59,600
'We'll do it
just as the Endeavour's crew did.

2972
02:39:59,600 --> 02:40:01,880
'And with just as much urgency.'

2973
02:40:01,880 --> 02:40:03,480
I've got this exact plane.

2974
02:40:03,480 --> 02:40:05,840
It's a beautiful bit of kit.
These are lovely.

2975
02:40:05,840 --> 02:40:08,240
Oh, mine's got the screw adjuster
though, instead of the lever.

2976
02:40:08,240 --> 02:40:09,840
Oh, right.
I always find it difficult

2977
02:40:09,840 --> 02:40:11,640
working with the blade
in the front position

2978
02:40:11,640 --> 02:40:13,400
because unless
you hold it down firmly...

2979
02:40:13,400 --> 02:40:15,040
Er, can we talk about the boat?
BEEP

2980
02:40:15,040 --> 02:40:18,520
Now, this is, er, similar
to the damage to the Endeavour,

2981
02:40:18,520 --> 02:40:21,080
not quite as critical because
it's not down below the waterline,

2982
02:40:21,080 --> 02:40:22,400
but the principle is the same.

2983
02:40:22,400 --> 02:40:25,160
We have to replace and blend in
this plank.

2984
02:40:25,160 --> 02:40:26,320
Yeah, that's right.

2985
02:40:26,320 --> 02:40:29,000
And has a slight curve to it.
Does it have a slight taper as well?

2986
02:40:29,000 --> 02:40:31,360
Er, a very slight taper,
very slight curve,

2987
02:40:31,360 --> 02:40:33,560
and a couple of little bevels on it.

2988
02:40:34,800 --> 02:40:37,080
'The wooden shipbuilding technique
of Cook's era

2989
02:40:37,080 --> 02:40:39,440
'is still much the same today

2990
02:40:39,440 --> 02:40:42,360
'and involves a tool
I haven't seen before.'

2991
02:40:42,360 --> 02:40:44,120
This must have a name
in boat building.

2992
02:40:44,120 --> 02:40:47,120
It's a spiling baton.
Spiling baton. I love it.

2993
02:40:47,120 --> 02:40:48,240
Fancy stick.

2994
02:40:48,240 --> 02:40:50,280
Well, navigation was done
with fancy sticks

2995
02:40:50,280 --> 02:40:51,760
for a long time,
so there's no reason

2996
02:40:51,760 --> 02:40:53,280
why building the boat shouldn't be.

2997
02:40:55,040 --> 02:40:58,680
'The fancy stick is tacked on
so we can mark our measurements

2998
02:40:58,680 --> 02:41:01,480
'for the new plank
using callipers to...

2999
02:41:01,480 --> 02:41:02,880
'Oh, hello.'

3000
02:41:04,080 --> 02:41:07,200
They're rather nice, aren't they?
They're lovely.

3001
02:41:07,200 --> 02:41:08,880
If you go back, well, only 50 years,

3002
02:41:08,880 --> 02:41:11,760
the country was
full of tools like this. I mean...

3003
02:41:11,760 --> 02:41:14,200
Sorry, anyway,
I was slightly side-tracked there.

3004
02:41:14,200 --> 02:41:15,200
You carry on, sir.

3005
02:41:16,560 --> 02:41:18,640
'The Endeavour's crew had to replace

3006
02:41:18,640 --> 02:41:22,120
'seven planks that had been ripped
through by the sharp coral...'

3007
02:41:22,120 --> 02:41:25,240
You take dimensions from the top
and the bottom of the gap

3008
02:41:25,240 --> 02:41:28,600
and then mark the dimension
on the spiling baton.

3009
02:41:28,600 --> 02:41:33,240
'..a bit of a reminder of how
fragile their floating world was.'

3010
02:41:33,240 --> 02:41:36,320
We now have to join those marks
a bit like a dot-to-dot,

3011
02:41:36,320 --> 02:41:39,920
to form a curved line
that'll be the guide for sawing,

3012
02:41:39,920 --> 02:41:42,960
and then we can get it banged in.
Yeah.

3013
02:41:42,960 --> 02:41:45,360
SAW WHIRRING

3014
02:41:45,360 --> 02:41:47,720
'After some fine adjustments...'

3015
02:41:47,720 --> 02:41:51,080
Is that a number four
or a four and a half? It's a four.

3016
02:41:51,080 --> 02:41:53,720
'..comes
an absolutely riveting bit.'

3017
02:41:53,720 --> 02:41:55,960
Right,
we're about to do some riveting.

3018
02:41:57,840 --> 02:42:01,760
'Backing the nails with roves
pulls the new plank in tight.'

3019
02:42:01,760 --> 02:42:03,520
That is lovely.

3020
02:42:04,720 --> 02:42:08,560
'In theory, Cook could replace
every single part of the Endeavour.'

3021
02:42:08,560 --> 02:42:12,280
We come up against the paradox of
the ship of Theseus here, don't we?

3022
02:42:12,280 --> 02:42:15,640
Because at what point is it
no longer the original boat?

3023
02:42:15,640 --> 02:42:17,680
It's the age-old conundrum.

3024
02:42:17,680 --> 02:42:21,640
But, I mean, every cell in
your body changes every seven years.

3025
02:42:21,640 --> 02:42:24,280
Are you the same person?
Exactly. Mm, no. I'm not.

3026
02:42:24,280 --> 02:42:26,320
But in spirit,
this will always be the same boat

3027
02:42:26,320 --> 02:42:28,680
even if eventually,
you replace the whole thing.

3028
02:42:28,680 --> 02:42:31,720
It will have a history
of continuous use and development.

3029
02:42:31,720 --> 02:42:34,240
Yeah.
So it is still Shrinkle.

3030
02:42:34,240 --> 02:42:38,320
'Right, if you're of an excitable
disposition, cover your eyes.

3031
02:42:38,320 --> 02:42:42,040
'There's one final
magnificent tool.'

3032
02:42:42,040 --> 02:42:44,880
We use a Japanese saw.
Ohh!

3033
02:42:44,880 --> 02:42:47,760
Which, er, we can get
nice and tight onto the transom.

3034
02:42:49,760 --> 02:42:52,440
'I should probably be explaining
how Cook would have used iron nails

3035
02:42:52,440 --> 02:42:53,640
'rather than copper,

3036
02:42:53,640 --> 02:42:56,000
as the corrosive effects
of saline water

3037
02:42:56,000 --> 02:42:59,240
'from ferrous metals were only
analysed by the navy in the 1790s,

3038
02:42:59,240 --> 02:43:01,480
'but let's just watch instead.'

3039
02:43:06,480 --> 02:43:07,920
Beautiful.

3040
02:43:10,880 --> 02:43:12,080
Thank you.

3041
02:43:15,520 --> 02:43:18,880
After seven weeks, all the planking
on the Endeavour was mended,

3042
02:43:18,880 --> 02:43:21,560
and she was ready
to set sail for home.

3043
02:43:21,560 --> 02:43:25,960
And not before time, actually,
because, as Joseph Banks observed,

3044
02:43:25,960 --> 02:43:29,200
"The men were beginning to sigh
for roast beef."

3045
02:43:29,200 --> 02:43:31,560
So men, even engaged on

3046
02:43:31,560 --> 02:43:35,880
perhaps the greatest adventure
that humankind had yet campaigned,

3047
02:43:35,880 --> 02:43:37,520
were still thinking about supper.

3048
02:43:38,880 --> 02:43:39,840
Amazing.

3049
02:43:41,560 --> 02:43:44,120
'The first voyage
was something of a triumph.

3050
02:43:44,120 --> 02:43:48,120
'Cook had explored parts of the
world totally unknown to Europeans,

3051
02:43:48,120 --> 02:43:50,720
'and he had charted them.'

3052
02:43:50,720 --> 02:43:53,840
We're going to talk about how Cook
managed to map so much of the world.

3053
02:43:53,840 --> 02:43:56,200
But basically,
it's all about triangles.

3054
02:43:56,200 --> 02:43:57,920
Now, I have here...
You would call this a...

3055
02:43:57,920 --> 02:44:00,280
A hand-bearing compass.
A hand-bearing compass.

3056
02:44:00,280 --> 02:44:03,200
Essentially,
I'm going to take three points...

3057
02:44:03,200 --> 02:44:05,240
Over there is the lighthouse.

3058
02:44:05,240 --> 02:44:08,080
And if I sight the lighthouse
first...

3059
02:44:08,080 --> 02:44:12,960
'Cook loved geometry so much that
he divided the world up into angles.

3060
02:44:12,960 --> 02:44:17,400
'And I'm doing the same - taking
a compass bearing to a landmark...'

3061
02:44:17,400 --> 02:44:20,800
And that is zero, three, five.

3062
02:44:20,800 --> 02:44:24,480
'..and drawing a line
along that bearing on the chart.

3063
02:44:24,480 --> 02:44:25,800
Zero, three, five.

3064
02:44:25,800 --> 02:44:28,160
'We are somewhere on that line.'

3065
02:44:28,160 --> 02:44:31,000
Pendennis Castle is...

3066
02:44:31,000 --> 02:44:34,560
zero, zero, four.

3067
02:44:34,560 --> 02:44:36,960
'And if we do this three times...'

3068
02:44:36,960 --> 02:44:38,920
The beach.
OK.

3069
02:44:38,920 --> 02:44:41,880
Two, eight, one.

3070
02:44:41,880 --> 02:44:45,000
'..where the lines meet
must be where we are.'

3071
02:44:45,000 --> 02:44:48,880
So now you can see,
we are in the triangle here.

3072
02:44:50,600 --> 02:44:52,400
We're somewhere in there.

3073
02:44:52,400 --> 02:44:55,360
Reasonably accurate, really,
for a handheld device, isn't it?

3074
02:44:55,360 --> 02:44:59,760
'And this is exactly what Cook did.
Except, the exact opposite.

3075
02:44:59,760 --> 02:45:03,480
'O-level trigonometry maths fans
- this one's for you.'

3076
02:45:04,680 --> 02:45:07,160
Now, Cook, of course,
did not have this handy chart.

3077
02:45:07,160 --> 02:45:08,480
He was drawing the chart,

3078
02:45:08,480 --> 02:45:11,840
but the way he did it
is similar to what we just did.

3079
02:45:11,840 --> 02:45:13,120
It's all about triangles.

3080
02:45:13,120 --> 02:45:14,840
Let's say there is a coastline here.

3081
02:45:14,840 --> 02:45:17,160
We don't know the shape of it yet,
we can't draw it.

3082
02:45:17,160 --> 02:45:19,520
Cook's ship is here

3083
02:45:19,520 --> 02:45:25,480
and he picks, say, three points
on the coastline over here,

3084
02:45:25,480 --> 02:45:28,760
He then takes bearings, like this,

3085
02:45:28,760 --> 02:45:31,640
so he knows where they are
relative to his ship,

3086
02:45:31,640 --> 02:45:33,600
but he then sails his ship forward,

3087
02:45:33,600 --> 02:45:37,400
so, say, a quarter
of a nautical mile to here.

3088
02:45:37,400 --> 02:45:40,480
And then he does
those sightings again,

3089
02:45:40,480 --> 02:45:42,840
so he's building up
a series of triangles

3090
02:45:42,840 --> 02:45:45,200
that will tell him
exactly where all those points are.

3091
02:45:45,200 --> 02:45:46,800
And he does this time
and time and time again

3092
02:45:46,800 --> 02:45:49,360
on thousands and thousands of points
along the coastline

3093
02:45:49,360 --> 02:45:52,640
until he can eventually determine
the shape of the coastline.

3094
02:45:52,640 --> 02:45:55,120
It was very, very meticulous work.

3095
02:45:56,280 --> 02:45:58,640
'And Cook was a meticulous man.

3096
02:45:58,640 --> 02:46:03,280
'He would chart
4,500 miles of coast on this voyage.

3097
02:46:03,280 --> 02:46:06,240
'But these were
no mere geometrical love poems.

3098
02:46:06,240 --> 02:46:09,560
'They would make
Britain a superpower.'

3099
02:46:09,560 --> 02:46:13,400
So, what does this coloured piece
of cloth on a stick actually mean?

3100
02:46:13,400 --> 02:46:18,120
Well, let's consult Cook's
rather verbose instructions again.

3101
02:46:18,120 --> 02:46:20,720
Er, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

3102
02:46:20,720 --> 02:46:23,280
"You are,
with the Consent of the Natives,

3103
02:46:23,280 --> 02:46:26,680
"to take Possession of
Convenient Situations in the Country

3104
02:46:26,680 --> 02:46:29,040
"in the Name of
the King of Great Britain.

3105
02:46:29,040 --> 02:46:32,360
"Or, if you find
the Country uninhabited,

3106
02:46:32,360 --> 02:46:34,440
"take Possession for his Majesty

3107
02:46:34,440 --> 02:46:38,080
"by setting up
Proper Marks and Inscriptions."

3108
02:46:38,080 --> 02:46:41,160
So what this is really
is a land grab.

3109
02:46:41,160 --> 02:46:45,160
It's an act by an Empire
hellbent on world domination,

3110
02:46:45,160 --> 02:46:48,400
and a warning to the people
like the Spanish and the French

3111
02:46:48,400 --> 02:46:50,160
to bugger oeuf.

3112
02:46:50,160 --> 02:46:52,520
But, quite obviously,
a lot of the places

3113
02:46:52,520 --> 02:46:55,240
where this flag was planted
weren't uninhabited.

3114
02:46:55,240 --> 02:46:59,080
And the following years of
various shootings and other mishaps

3115
02:46:59,080 --> 02:47:01,400
suggest that
the consent of the natives thing

3116
02:47:01,400 --> 02:47:04,480
wasn't quite what we were expecting.

3117
02:47:04,480 --> 02:47:06,840
In the following decades,
more ships arrived,

3118
02:47:06,840 --> 02:47:09,440
helped, obviously,
by Cook's excellent charts.

3119
02:47:09,440 --> 02:47:14,480
And they brought with them
European disease, war, settlement,

3120
02:47:14,480 --> 02:47:18,000
and the systematic destruction
of whole civilisations.

3121
02:47:23,840 --> 02:47:25,760
'It's 1771,

3122
02:47:25,760 --> 02:47:30,200
'and after three years away at sea
and exploring two new countries,

3123
02:47:30,200 --> 02:47:33,560
'Captain Cook and the ship's
scientist, Joseph Banks,

3124
02:47:33,560 --> 02:47:35,840
'returned to a hero's welcome.

3125
02:47:37,440 --> 02:47:39,800
'And what everyone
was desperate to know was -

3126
02:47:39,800 --> 02:47:41,440
'what had they brought home
with them?

3127
02:47:41,440 --> 02:47:44,600
'Time for a visit
to the hallowed halls

3128
02:47:44,600 --> 02:47:47,160
'of London's Natural History Museum.

3129
02:47:47,160 --> 02:47:50,480
'Because these explorers
didn't care about gold...'

3130
02:47:52,880 --> 02:47:56,200
'..their treasure was
scientific knowledge,

3131
02:47:56,200 --> 02:47:59,080
'and it's kept
in the museum's murky depths.'

3132
02:47:59,080 --> 02:48:01,440
I'm sure this one just moved.

3133
02:48:01,440 --> 02:48:04,520
'Even the most hideous residents
are beautiful

3134
02:48:04,520 --> 02:48:08,240
'to fish mortician
and senior curator, James Maclaine.

3135
02:48:08,240 --> 02:48:11,080
'And some of his favourites
were brought back

3136
02:48:11,080 --> 02:48:12,800
'on board the Endeavour.'

3137
02:48:12,800 --> 02:48:15,640
I think the estimate's
about 500 fish specimens

3138
02:48:15,640 --> 02:48:18,000
were collected
during the first voyage.

3139
02:48:18,000 --> 02:48:21,320
'Many of these had never
before been seen by Europeans

3140
02:48:21,320 --> 02:48:24,240
'and were brand new to biologists.'

3141
02:48:24,240 --> 02:48:27,720
So, when somebody describes
a new species for the first time,

3142
02:48:27,720 --> 02:48:31,800
forever after, those specimens
then represent that species.

3143
02:48:31,800 --> 02:48:35,000
So these are all
incredibly important for science,

3144
02:48:35,000 --> 02:48:37,360
so, some of them
are very bizarre as well.

3145
02:48:37,360 --> 02:48:40,720
So, there's a really nice thing here
which is called a box fish.

3146
02:48:40,720 --> 02:48:43,160
You're actually gonna get it out?
I'll be very gentle with it.

3147
02:48:43,160 --> 02:48:44,640
Look at that!

3148
02:48:44,640 --> 02:48:50,120
And it's got this like very hard,
box-like, er, shell to it.

3149
02:48:50,120 --> 02:48:52,320
Let's see if I can...
It's got a face like a dog.

3150
02:48:54,040 --> 02:48:56,720
Joseph Banks touched that
and thought, "This is very hard,

3151
02:48:56,720 --> 02:48:59,680
"this box-like fish
that we'll call a box fish."

3152
02:48:59,680 --> 02:49:01,560
He touched that,
and now I'm touching it.

3153
02:49:01,560 --> 02:49:03,640
That's really weird, isn't it?

3154
02:49:03,640 --> 02:49:08,280
Possibly my favourite
of all the things here are these.

3155
02:49:08,280 --> 02:49:11,560
So, these are called frog fish.

3156
02:49:12,640 --> 02:49:15,680
And they have a lure
on their forehead.

3157
02:49:15,680 --> 02:49:17,240
Oh, yes.

3158
02:49:17,240 --> 02:49:19,720
That there is
its little fishing rod.

3159
02:49:19,720 --> 02:49:21,760
It will attract
some little fish over

3160
02:49:21,760 --> 02:49:23,800
and then they can sort of inflate
their whole head

3161
02:49:23,800 --> 02:49:25,200
and then the fish
just gets sucked in.

3162
02:49:26,320 --> 02:49:29,800
If part of this falls off,
I'll be just...

3163
02:49:29,800 --> 02:49:32,360
We'll delete the footage
if that happens.

3164
02:49:32,360 --> 02:49:33,320
Delete myself.

3165
02:49:35,360 --> 02:49:38,480
'Frog fish intact
and safely stowed away,

3166
02:49:38,480 --> 02:49:41,720
'which is more than can be said
for Banks' collecting methods.'

3167
02:49:41,720 --> 02:49:43,760
They can be very vague.

3168
02:49:43,760 --> 02:49:48,280
This thing here, it just says
"Islands of the Pacific Ocean".

3169
02:49:48,280 --> 02:49:49,720
That's precise (!)

3170
02:49:49,720 --> 02:49:54,680
I've read that the whole business of
collecting on board was quite untidy

3171
02:49:54,680 --> 02:49:57,200
because Cook and Banks
shared a big cabin.

3172
02:49:57,200 --> 02:49:59,680
But Banks
would bring all his specimens

3173
02:49:59,680 --> 02:50:03,400
and string them out to dry
or dissect them on the map table,

3174
02:50:03,400 --> 02:50:05,360
so the whole thing
was just covered in slime.

3175
02:50:05,360 --> 02:50:07,800
Well, I think
there was, yes, so much going on.

3176
02:50:07,800 --> 02:50:10,360
The sailors got very much involved
with the collecting as well.

3177
02:50:10,360 --> 02:50:11,920
So they'd be
in the middle of something

3178
02:50:11,920 --> 02:50:14,280
and then some guy would run in,
"I've just caught this."

3179
02:50:14,280 --> 02:50:18,160
And, er, I mean, I've been
on a collecting expedition myself,

3180
02:50:18,160 --> 02:50:21,160
and it does get very excitable
when the net comes in,

3181
02:50:21,160 --> 02:50:23,160
and everyone sort of gathers around.

3182
02:50:23,160 --> 02:50:26,040
'The liquid
the fish were preserved in

3183
02:50:26,040 --> 02:50:28,800
'got the sailors quite excited too.'

3184
02:50:28,800 --> 02:50:31,080
They used to use something called
spirits of wine,

3185
02:50:31,080 --> 02:50:33,120
which was completely drinkable.

3186
02:50:33,120 --> 02:50:34,400
I think on one of the voyages,

3187
02:50:34,400 --> 02:50:36,880
there was an issue
with the rum running out.

3188
02:50:36,880 --> 02:50:38,000
The preserving alcohol

3189
02:50:38,000 --> 02:50:40,200
would suddenly be
of great interest to the sailors.

3190
02:50:41,240 --> 02:50:43,600
'The best way to stop
the sailors drinking it

3191
02:50:43,600 --> 02:50:46,000
'was to stick
a load of dead fish in it.

3192
02:50:46,000 --> 02:50:50,360
'And those dead fish changed
the course of science forever.'

3193
02:50:51,400 --> 02:50:53,680
When all these came back,

3194
02:50:53,680 --> 02:50:55,240
the scientific community of Europe

3195
02:50:55,240 --> 02:50:58,040
must have suddenly flocked to London
to see all this stuff.

3196
02:50:58,040 --> 02:51:01,680
This... this was a massive boost
to our scientific esteem,

3197
02:51:01,680 --> 02:51:04,040
wasn't it, having all this stuff?
Oh, absolutely.

3198
02:51:04,040 --> 02:51:06,640
It laid the groundwork for
so many of the things that followed,

3199
02:51:06,640 --> 02:51:10,000
like the Beagle with Charles Darwin
and the Challenger expedition.

3200
02:51:10,000 --> 02:51:13,640
So our ideas about evolution
and the origin of species...

3201
02:51:14,840 --> 02:51:17,320
..are all linked
into these yellow-topped jars

3202
02:51:17,320 --> 02:51:19,320
that Cook and Banks
had in their cabin

3203
02:51:19,320 --> 02:51:21,600
and chucked
in a big barrel of alcohol.

3204
02:51:21,600 --> 02:51:23,080
Very much, yeah.

3205
02:51:23,080 --> 02:51:27,080
'And they still have a place at
the cutting edge of science today.'

3206
02:51:27,080 --> 02:51:31,640
There are many, many, many uses
for a dead fish in a jar

3207
02:51:31,640 --> 02:51:34,000
and some of them
you just cannot predict.

3208
02:51:34,000 --> 02:51:36,360
So recently,
somebody wanted a bit of shark skin

3209
02:51:36,360 --> 02:51:40,680
so that they could design a tyre
for use on the surface of Mars.

3210
02:51:40,680 --> 02:51:42,520
So you just cannot tell

3211
02:51:42,520 --> 02:51:44,720
what people are gonna want to do
with a dead fish.

3212
02:51:45,960 --> 02:51:48,240
'Now, delightful
as our fishy friends are,

3213
02:51:48,240 --> 02:51:49,920
'they all look a bit drab.

3214
02:51:49,920 --> 02:51:52,960
'Preserving dulls the colours...

3215
02:51:52,960 --> 02:51:57,280
'which is why art was
an all-important part of science.

3216
02:51:57,280 --> 02:51:59,360
'And why ship's scientist Banks

3217
02:51:59,360 --> 02:52:03,880
'brought an artist on the expedition
to capture things in the moment.'

3218
02:52:03,880 --> 02:52:07,440
This is the work of Sidney
Parkinson, artist to the expedition.

3219
02:52:07,440 --> 02:52:11,040
This is actually the photography
of the era, isn't it? Yes.

3220
02:52:11,040 --> 02:52:14,280
'And Library Collections Manager
Andrea Hart

3221
02:52:14,280 --> 02:52:16,920
'is giving me a peek
at the negatives.'

3222
02:52:16,920 --> 02:52:18,480
Oh, cripes!

3223
02:52:18,480 --> 02:52:23,720
'While Banks was onshore collecting
an astonishing 30,000 specimens,

3224
02:52:23,720 --> 02:52:27,320
'Parkinson was back on the ship
with cramp in his drawing hand.'

3225
02:52:27,320 --> 02:52:28,920
They had very small cabins,

3226
02:52:28,920 --> 02:52:31,640
there's reference
in Banks' journal to,

3227
02:52:31,640 --> 02:52:34,800
especially some times when
there were particularly foul seas,

3228
02:52:34,800 --> 02:52:36,240
that his pots would go leeward.

3229
02:52:36,240 --> 02:52:38,200
And then also in Tahiti,

3230
02:52:38,200 --> 02:52:42,640
it was very, very warm
so they were plagued by mosquitos.

3231
02:52:42,640 --> 02:52:45,280
There was reports
of flies eating the paint

3232
02:52:45,280 --> 02:52:47,640
before it could dry on the paper.

3233
02:52:47,640 --> 02:52:52,840
'More than 1,300 of Parkinson's
artworks came back on the Endeavour,

3234
02:52:52,840 --> 02:52:55,320
'which is more than can be said
for Parkinson.'

3235
02:52:55,320 --> 02:52:58,040
Tragically, Parkinson died

3236
02:52:58,040 --> 02:53:00,880
six months before
the voyage returned to England.

3237
02:53:00,880 --> 02:53:03,960
What actually killed Parkinson?
Dysentery.

3238
02:53:03,960 --> 02:53:05,440
Oh, dear.

3239
02:53:05,440 --> 02:53:10,400
But he did record all this stuff,
which is a remarkable legacy,

3240
02:53:10,400 --> 02:53:12,240
something that's advanced science

3241
02:53:12,240 --> 02:53:14,640
and our understanding
of a completely new world.

3242
02:53:14,640 --> 02:53:17,640
And to do all that
before you shit yourself to death

3243
02:53:17,640 --> 02:53:19,680
is... is quite an achievement.

3244
02:53:19,680 --> 02:53:23,200
'Just before his final visit
to the khazi,

3245
02:53:23,200 --> 02:53:26,440
'Parkinson also painted
Sean's family album.'

3246
02:53:26,440 --> 02:53:30,360
This is literally recounting
the discovery of my tribe.

3247
02:53:30,360 --> 02:53:32,960
This is where my guys are from.
Really?

3248
02:53:32,960 --> 02:53:34,960
Yeah. This is actually
quite a cool moment.

3249
02:53:34,960 --> 02:53:36,440
Sorry, I'm gonna bathe in it
for a sec.

3250
02:53:36,440 --> 02:53:38,360
'Once we get our cameraman back,

3251
02:53:38,360 --> 02:53:42,600
'we can film some of Parkinson's
rather special last drawings.'

3252
02:53:43,760 --> 02:53:45,160
Ahh.

3253
02:53:45,160 --> 02:53:51,040
They are the first
European drawings of a kangaroo.

3254
02:53:51,040 --> 02:53:52,680
Are they?
Mm.

3255
02:53:52,680 --> 02:53:55,320
So I expect the first time somebody
said, "I've seen this animal,

3256
02:53:55,320 --> 02:53:56,920
"but it only hops around
on its back legs

3257
02:53:56,920 --> 02:53:58,480
"and it looks
a bit like a giant mouse

3258
02:53:58,480 --> 02:54:00,760
"and it's got
a little version of itself and..."

3259
02:54:00,760 --> 02:54:02,360
they'd have said, "Don't be stupid."

3260
02:54:02,360 --> 02:54:04,120
And probably given him 50 lashes.

3261
02:54:04,120 --> 02:54:07,680
'The kangaroo looks
lovely and peaceful, doesn't it?

3262
02:54:07,680 --> 02:54:09,720
'There's a reason for that.'

3263
02:54:09,720 --> 02:54:12,280
To be able to draw
any living species,

3264
02:54:12,280 --> 02:54:14,760
there was an element
of having to shoot them.

3265
02:54:14,760 --> 02:54:19,440
And that is
part of the scientific process.

3266
02:54:19,440 --> 02:54:24,120
So this is... this is
the first European record

3267
02:54:24,120 --> 02:54:27,120
of what a kangaroo is
and looks like.

3268
02:54:27,120 --> 02:54:29,400
And it would have been
the first time -

3269
02:54:29,400 --> 02:54:30,840
probably an hour or two after this -

3270
02:54:30,840 --> 02:54:33,400
that Europeans knew
what a kangaroo tasted like.

3271
02:54:33,400 --> 02:54:34,520
Exactly.

3272
02:54:34,520 --> 02:54:36,280
Which is a bit like chicken,
obviously.

3273
02:54:36,280 --> 02:54:37,480
SHE LAUGHS

3274
02:54:38,960 --> 02:54:41,840
'Parkinson's drawings
caused a sensation,

3275
02:54:41,840 --> 02:54:45,440
'and Joseph Banks
became a very influential man.

3276
02:54:45,440 --> 02:54:47,480
'But while he clearly loved nature,

3277
02:54:47,480 --> 02:54:50,560
'he was no peace-and-love,
plant-based hippy.

3278
02:54:50,560 --> 02:54:53,120
'Like many of his day,
he was a firm believer

3279
02:54:53,120 --> 02:54:57,120
'in colonies, plantations,
and slavery.'

3280
02:54:57,120 --> 02:55:00,120
And here he is, look,
unceremoniously dumped

3281
02:55:00,120 --> 02:55:05,560
in a corner of the Chelsea Physic
Garden, rendered immortal in...

3282
02:55:05,560 --> 02:55:07,920
Oh, actually,
it feels a bit like resin.

3283
02:55:07,920 --> 02:55:11,160
He hasn't actually been cancelled
yet, but give it another few years,

3284
02:55:11,160 --> 02:55:14,960
and he'll be completely overgrown
with Santolina villosa.

3285
02:55:16,200 --> 02:55:20,120
'Not long after the voyage, there
was a crisis in British prisons.

3286
02:55:20,120 --> 02:55:22,840
They were bursting
at the seams with convicts.

3287
02:55:22,840 --> 02:55:25,120
'And Banks suggested
shipping them off

3288
02:55:25,120 --> 02:55:27,400
'to a lovely little spot he knew -

3289
02:55:27,400 --> 02:55:29,800
'Botany Bay, Australia.

3290
02:55:29,800 --> 02:55:34,320
'Within 100 years,
160,000 prisoners had been shipped.

3291
02:55:35,440 --> 02:55:38,920
'Britain would pave paradise
and put up a penal colony.'

3292
02:55:40,080 --> 02:55:44,800
A whole new and obviously
completely alien society emerged,

3293
02:55:44,800 --> 02:55:46,680
and the Aboriginal Australians,

3294
02:55:46,680 --> 02:55:51,000
who had lived there presumably
untroubled for 60,000 years,

3295
02:55:51,000 --> 02:55:53,360
found their land seized

3296
02:55:53,360 --> 02:55:57,280
and their ancient culture
just torn apart and cast aside.

3297
02:55:57,280 --> 02:56:01,120
All that happened in just a century,
one and a bit lifetimes.

3298
02:56:02,320 --> 02:56:05,520
Cook's little voyage
left quite a big wake.

3299
02:56:07,160 --> 02:56:09,800
'And that was
only his first voyage.'

3300
02:56:12,320 --> 02:56:16,720
'Welcome to Greenwich
in the mid-18th century.' Lovely.

3301
02:56:16,720 --> 02:56:21,200
'Captain Cook is home from his first
voyage to New Zealand and Australia.

3302
02:56:21,200 --> 02:56:23,120
'New lands down under!

3303
02:56:23,120 --> 02:56:28,520
'But now the Admiralty wanted
newer lands under down under.

3304
02:56:28,520 --> 02:56:31,720
'They believed in a mysterious
Great Southern Continent,

3305
02:56:31,720 --> 02:56:34,800
'still out there,
waiting to be discovered.

3306
02:56:34,800 --> 02:56:40,000
'And in 1772, Cook was given
two new ships and sent to find it.'

3307
02:56:41,200 --> 02:56:44,120
But there was a problem
because sailors at sea

3308
02:56:44,120 --> 02:56:47,520
still couldn't work out
exactly where they were.

3309
02:56:47,520 --> 02:56:50,840
Latitude - how far south
or north you are,

3310
02:56:50,840 --> 02:56:53,520
that's not such an issue because
it's a matter of observation.

3311
02:56:53,520 --> 02:56:55,040
You can simply see

3312
02:56:55,040 --> 02:56:58,760
how high the noonday sun is
above the horizon.

3313
02:56:58,760 --> 02:57:02,320
But longitude -
how far east or west you were,

3314
02:57:02,320 --> 02:57:04,120
that's altogether more difficult.

3315
02:57:04,120 --> 02:57:08,360
And that was the great
navigational challenge of the day.

3316
02:57:09,800 --> 02:57:14,240
'Until now, longitude was
essentially an educated guess.

3317
02:57:14,240 --> 02:57:16,520
'It was an age-old problem,

3318
02:57:16,520 --> 02:57:18,560
'and back in 1675,

3319
02:57:18,560 --> 02:57:22,880
'the Royal Greenwich Observatory
was built just to try and solve it.'

3320
02:57:22,880 --> 02:57:25,880
This is the prime meridian.

3321
02:57:25,880 --> 02:57:28,920
It is, if you like,
longitude ground zero.

3322
02:57:28,920 --> 02:57:31,280
This is the line from which
all other lines of longitude -

3323
02:57:31,280 --> 02:57:34,360
east and west -
are measured and established.

3324
02:57:34,360 --> 02:57:39,040
It's here, because the British
invented time, it's ours.

3325
02:57:40,200 --> 02:57:43,040
'Right, viewers,
strap in for science.

3326
02:57:44,280 --> 02:57:47,680
'Longitude is
inextricably linked with time.

3327
02:57:47,680 --> 02:57:53,320
'In 24 hours, the Earth turns a full
360 degrees through the sun's beam.

3328
02:57:53,320 --> 02:57:57,120
'And in one hour, it turns through
15 degrees. Everyone with me?

3329
02:57:59,920 --> 02:58:03,960
'So if, onboard your ship,
the midday sun is at its highest

3330
02:58:03,960 --> 02:58:06,560
'one hour later
than midday back at Greenwich,

3331
02:58:06,560 --> 02:58:08,800
'you must be 15 degrees west.

3332
02:58:10,040 --> 02:58:14,600
'Two hours later, then you must be
30 degrees west, and so on.

3333
02:58:14,600 --> 02:58:19,000
'Now. if this is all making
your brain ache, you're not alone.

3334
02:58:19,000 --> 02:58:23,320
Sir Isaac Newton said that
longitude was the only problem

3335
02:58:23,320 --> 02:58:25,720
that had ever made his head hurt.

3336
02:58:25,720 --> 02:58:27,600
And he invented gravity.

3337
02:58:30,480 --> 02:58:33,080
'The obvious way to know
what time it was back home

3338
02:58:33,080 --> 02:58:34,640
'was to bring a clock on the ship.

3339
02:58:34,640 --> 02:58:36,280
'But it wasn't that easy.'

3340
02:58:36,280 --> 02:58:37,880
CLOCKS CHIME

3341
02:58:37,880 --> 02:58:40,680
'Nor it turns out,
is filming in clock shop.'

3342
02:58:40,680 --> 02:58:42,640
CLOCKS CHIME

3343
02:58:46,520 --> 02:58:48,200
And, action!

3344
02:58:48,200 --> 02:58:52,760
The problem was that pendulum clocks
like this one wouldn't work at sea

3345
02:58:52,760 --> 02:58:54,280
because...

3346
02:58:54,280 --> 02:58:57,080
if you're at sea, you get swell.

3347
02:58:57,080 --> 02:58:59,480
Pendulum has stopped,

3348
02:58:59,480 --> 02:59:01,760
beat of the clock becomes irregular.

3349
02:59:01,760 --> 02:59:03,240
That isn't going to work.

3350
02:59:03,240 --> 02:59:06,200
But then, of course,
you have this sort of mechanism.

3351
02:59:06,200 --> 02:59:07,920
But all of these intricate parts

3352
02:59:07,920 --> 02:59:10,360
would be subject
to extremes of heat and cold at sea.

3353
02:59:10,360 --> 02:59:12,280
They would expand,
they would contract.

3354
02:59:12,280 --> 02:59:13,680
Moisture would get in,

3355
02:59:13,680 --> 02:59:16,440
salt would form crystals,
bung up the mechanism

3356
02:59:16,440 --> 02:59:20,840
and cause the steel parts like
these shafts and arbours to corrode.

3357
02:59:20,840 --> 02:59:24,160
'And a slow clock would mean
a major cock-up for Cook.'

3358
02:59:24,160 --> 02:59:27,640
Your ship's clock only had to be
a couple of minutes out

3359
02:59:27,640 --> 02:59:30,720
for you to miss an entire island.

3360
02:59:30,720 --> 02:59:33,080
And then no rum for you,

3361
02:59:33,080 --> 02:59:35,640
lost at sea
just because your clock's wrong.

3362
02:59:35,640 --> 02:59:36,960
CLOCKS CHIME

3363
02:59:36,960 --> 02:59:39,800
'Clocks were not the answer.

3364
02:59:39,800 --> 02:59:43,240
'The longitude problem
drove men mad.

3365
02:59:43,240 --> 02:59:45,840
'The government offered
a huge reward

3366
02:59:45,840 --> 02:59:49,160
'to anyone who could come up
with a longitude solution.

3367
02:59:49,160 --> 02:59:52,080
'And I've got special access
to see some attempts...

3368
02:59:52,080 --> 02:59:55,440
'under strict supervision
from these two.'

3369
02:59:55,440 --> 02:59:59,400
I'm now privileged to be
in a very special place,

3370
02:59:59,400 --> 03:00:04,920
the top secret storeroom of
the Royal Museums, comma, Greenwich.

3371
03:00:04,920 --> 03:00:10,080
This is the place where they hide
the bits of maritime history

3372
03:00:10,080 --> 03:00:12,560
they don't want you to know about.

3373
03:00:12,560 --> 03:00:14,320
Follow me.

3374
03:00:14,320 --> 03:00:16,520
TENSE MUSIC

3375
03:00:18,600 --> 03:00:21,920
'These dusty vaults hold
long-forgotten inventions,

3376
03:00:21,920 --> 03:00:24,960
'enough firepower
to sink the Bismarck,

3377
03:00:24,960 --> 03:00:28,920
'and what appears to be
a private army of nautical daleks.

3378
03:00:28,920 --> 03:00:32,680
'I'm under strict instructions
not to touch anything,

3379
03:00:32,680 --> 03:00:35,080
'which always makes me
want to touch everything.

3380
03:00:35,080 --> 03:00:36,880
'I think they can probably tell.'

3381
03:00:38,280 --> 03:00:40,760
I'm very used to putting those on
cos I wear them a lot at home.

3382
03:00:42,040 --> 03:00:43,000
Great.

3383
03:00:46,520 --> 03:00:48,960
LAUGHTER
In the workshop! Come on!

3384
03:00:48,960 --> 03:00:50,600
Oh, right. Yeah, yeah. Fine.

3385
03:00:50,600 --> 03:00:53,880
This is Louise, who is Senior
Curator of the Royal Observatory

3386
03:00:53,880 --> 03:00:57,520
and therefore
a curator of time itself.

3387
03:00:57,520 --> 03:01:02,600
'Time Lord Louise is showing me
the leading longitude contenders.

3388
03:01:02,600 --> 03:01:05,240
'There's a very fiddly one
that used the differences

3389
03:01:05,240 --> 03:01:07,600
'in the Earth's magnetic field...'

3390
03:01:07,600 --> 03:01:09,960
The magnetic compass
doesn't always point true north

3391
03:01:09,960 --> 03:01:12,080
compared to the North Star, Polaris.

3392
03:01:12,080 --> 03:01:15,280
Sometimes, it varies by
about four degrees or ten degrees.

3393
03:01:15,280 --> 03:01:18,560
And the idea was that you could
match up your compass with a chart

3394
03:01:18,560 --> 03:01:20,960
and figure out where you are.
It's beautifully made.

3395
03:01:20,960 --> 03:01:24,040
It requires
quite a lot of arithmetic...

3396
03:01:24,040 --> 03:01:25,640
'Fraid so. Yeah.
..doesn't it?

3397
03:01:25,640 --> 03:01:27,600
'There's a rather complicated one

3398
03:01:27,600 --> 03:01:31,360
'that used the position of the moon
relative to the stars...'

3399
03:01:31,360 --> 03:01:34,520
What they used to do is send
that data from the observatory

3400
03:01:34,520 --> 03:01:36,440
to a whole network
of mathematicians,

3401
03:01:36,440 --> 03:01:38,360
known as human computers.

3402
03:01:38,360 --> 03:01:41,120
They number-crunched all the data,
sent it back,

3403
03:01:41,120 --> 03:01:43,760
and then this book gives you
the position of the moon

3404
03:01:43,760 --> 03:01:46,800
every three hours,
every day for the year ahead.

3405
03:01:46,800 --> 03:01:50,040
This must have taken
months and months to compile.

3406
03:01:51,640 --> 03:01:54,800
'And there's a rather intriguing one
that we can demonstrate with...'

3407
03:01:54,800 --> 03:01:56,760
An orrery.
Correct.

3408
03:01:56,760 --> 03:01:58,280
Orrery. Is that right?
Yes.

3409
03:01:58,280 --> 03:02:01,600
So you've got the sun
in the centre with Mercury, Venus.

3410
03:02:01,600 --> 03:02:04,320
You've got Earth
and its little moon. Yes.

3411
03:02:04,320 --> 03:02:08,400
But I really like it because it
shows Jupiter with its four moons.

3412
03:02:08,400 --> 03:02:12,280
So, back in 1610,
the Italian astronomer Galileo

3413
03:02:12,280 --> 03:02:17,480
used a newly-invented telescope like
this one here to look at Jupiter.

3414
03:02:17,480 --> 03:02:20,080
And he noticed
four little dots of light.

3415
03:02:20,080 --> 03:02:21,520
And if you look at the model,

3416
03:02:21,520 --> 03:02:23,880
you can see that
sometimes, the moons go behind,

3417
03:02:23,880 --> 03:02:26,240
and sometimes,
they go in front of the planet.

3418
03:02:26,240 --> 03:02:28,600
And Galileo realised
that if you knew

3419
03:02:28,600 --> 03:02:30,960
the configuration of those moons
at one location

3420
03:02:30,960 --> 03:02:34,120
and you compared it to
what you could see at your location,

3421
03:02:34,120 --> 03:02:36,640
you could work out the difference
in time and longitudes.

3422
03:02:38,120 --> 03:02:41,400
'The simplicity of the theory
is irresistible.

3423
03:02:41,400 --> 03:02:43,760
'As is the orrerrerr...erry.'

3424
03:02:43,760 --> 03:02:46,120
Am I allowed to touch that one?
I'm afraid not.

3425
03:02:46,120 --> 03:02:49,520
That's absolutely fabulous, yes.
Am I allowed to touch that?

3426
03:02:49,520 --> 03:02:52,240
No.
Now, this is all great

3427
03:02:52,240 --> 03:02:55,880
because it's based on very, very
sound scientific reasoning.

3428
03:02:55,880 --> 03:02:58,400
But once you take it to sea,

3429
03:02:58,400 --> 03:03:01,240
you come face-to-face
with what is sometimes called,

3430
03:03:01,240 --> 03:03:05,480
in scientific circles,
the crapness of reality.

3431
03:03:09,000 --> 03:03:12,240
'Over to Bessie Ellen
for that reality check.'

3432
03:03:12,240 --> 03:03:14,960
Ow. Where's the end?

3433
03:03:14,960 --> 03:03:16,280
BLEEP

3434
03:03:16,280 --> 03:03:18,280
'Yes, it is a bit crap.'

3435
03:03:18,280 --> 03:03:20,680
Where's the camera gone? Hello.

3436
03:03:20,680 --> 03:03:23,120
'I have not come to exterminate you.

3437
03:03:23,120 --> 03:03:25,560
'I'm demonstrating
the reality of viewing

3438
03:03:25,560 --> 03:03:28,120
'Jupiter's moons at sea...'

3439
03:03:28,120 --> 03:03:30,400
This is absolutely hopeless.

3440
03:03:30,400 --> 03:03:32,760
'..using this model of a celatone,

3441
03:03:32,760 --> 03:03:35,120
'inspired by a Galileo design
to help

3442
03:03:35,120 --> 03:03:37,840
'sailors keep
their telescope steady.'

3443
03:03:37,840 --> 03:03:40,800
I mean, obviously this wouldn't work
in the day, it's got to be at night.

3444
03:03:40,800 --> 03:03:42,560
But it's not gonna work anyway

3445
03:03:42,560 --> 03:03:44,240
because it's
absolutely bloody useless.

3446
03:03:44,240 --> 03:03:46,160
One report said that at best,

3447
03:03:46,160 --> 03:03:49,800
you could hope to hold Jupiter
in your sights for about a second,

3448
03:03:49,800 --> 03:03:51,920
which is nothing like long enough.

3449
03:03:51,920 --> 03:03:55,160
I mean, apart from it
making you look like a total berk,

3450
03:03:55,160 --> 03:03:57,480
it simply didn't work.

3451
03:03:57,480 --> 03:03:59,240
Ow!

3452
03:03:59,240 --> 03:04:02,040
'In the end, the answer
to the biggest headscratcher

3453
03:04:02,040 --> 03:04:04,840
'of the sailing age
was straightforward.

3454
03:04:04,840 --> 03:04:07,720
'Just make better clocks.

3455
03:04:07,720 --> 03:04:10,080
'And someone did.

3456
03:04:10,080 --> 03:04:13,400
'A genius carpenter called
John Harrison replaced the pendulum

3457
03:04:13,400 --> 03:04:16,680
'with swinging balances,
anti-friction bearings,

3458
03:04:16,680 --> 03:04:19,680
'and the grasshopper escapement.

3459
03:04:19,680 --> 03:04:22,440
'And I think
he deserves a phwoarrr.'

3460
03:04:23,920 --> 03:04:26,280
'It took him almost 30 years,

3461
03:04:26,280 --> 03:04:30,280
'and four goes
to achieve perfection in the H4.

3462
03:04:30,280 --> 03:04:33,960
'You're probably wondering what all
this has to do with Captain Cook.

3463
03:04:33,960 --> 03:04:36,240
'Well, for the first time
in history,

3464
03:04:36,240 --> 03:04:38,240
'the Navy were on to a solution -

3465
03:04:38,240 --> 03:04:41,440
'and they needed
their top navigator to test it

3466
03:04:41,440 --> 03:04:43,760
'on his round-the-world voyage.'

3467
03:04:43,760 --> 03:04:45,800
Wow, look at that!

3468
03:04:45,800 --> 03:04:50,200
That is actually what you need,
to know where you are at sea.

3469
03:04:50,200 --> 03:04:54,200
That is Cook's actual sextant,
absolutely immaculate.

3470
03:04:54,200 --> 03:04:56,680
And this is K1,

3471
03:04:56,680 --> 03:05:00,520
which is an exact copy
of Harrison's H4.

3472
03:05:00,520 --> 03:05:03,440
They took the original apart,
measured it precisely

3473
03:05:03,440 --> 03:05:07,080
and then made a new one,
and it's absolutely fabulous.

3474
03:05:07,080 --> 03:05:10,920
I mean, imagine having that in your
pocket, and somebody saying to you,

3475
03:05:10,920 --> 03:05:12,560
"Have you got the time on you?"

3476
03:05:12,560 --> 03:05:17,280
"Well, as a matter of fact, I have.
And it's exactly right."

3477
03:05:17,280 --> 03:05:18,800
Can I really not touch this?

3478
03:05:18,800 --> 03:05:21,440
'This time,
they've sent in the big guns.'

3479
03:05:21,440 --> 03:05:24,840
Sorry!
Can you touch it for me, please?

3480
03:05:27,640 --> 03:05:30,320
This is fantastic. I never thought
I'd arrive at a time in my life

3481
03:05:30,320 --> 03:05:33,200
when I had someone to touch things
on my behalf.

3482
03:05:33,200 --> 03:05:35,480
Ooh, look at the back.
Oh, yes!

3483
03:05:35,480 --> 03:05:36,560
Can you open it?

3484
03:05:37,880 --> 03:05:40,400
Go on!
SHE LAUGHS

3485
03:05:40,400 --> 03:05:43,000
Well, thank you for touching it
for me. It's appreciated.

3486
03:05:44,360 --> 03:05:47,680
After hundreds and thousands
of years of people being lost at sea

3487
03:05:47,680 --> 03:05:50,840
and perishing horribly
and being consumed by monsters

3488
03:05:50,840 --> 03:05:52,640
and all the rest of it,
you just need that -

3489
03:05:52,640 --> 03:05:55,560
that elaborate
school metalwork project

3490
03:05:55,560 --> 03:05:57,840
and the world's most valuable clock.

3491
03:05:57,840 --> 03:06:00,280
That's it. Job done.

3492
03:06:00,280 --> 03:06:04,600
'And there's one final Cook treasure
that I can't touch.'

3493
03:06:04,600 --> 03:06:06,640
This is Cook's actual logbook.

3494
03:06:06,640 --> 03:06:11,040
Look at his writing. It's so neat!

3495
03:06:11,040 --> 03:06:14,200
And this was written on a ship,
remember, pitching about.

3496
03:06:14,200 --> 03:06:18,080
And his most famous quote is
on this page. Here it is, look.

3497
03:06:18,080 --> 03:06:24,520
"I had ambition not only to go
further than anyone had been before,

3498
03:06:24,520 --> 03:06:28,920
"but as far as it is possible
for man to go."

3499
03:06:28,920 --> 03:06:31,760
Another captain later on put it
a little more succinctly -

3500
03:06:31,760 --> 03:06:35,480
"to boldly go
where no man has gone before".

3501
03:06:35,480 --> 03:06:37,160
BRIGHT MUSIC

3502
03:06:37,160 --> 03:06:41,560
And on Cook's second voyage,
he would do just that.

3503
03:06:43,640 --> 03:06:48,040
'Welcome back to 1772,
Cook's second voyage,

3504
03:06:48,040 --> 03:06:51,280
'and the search
for the Great Southern Continent.

3505
03:06:51,280 --> 03:06:54,360
'Now with new-fangled, cutting-edge
navigational instruments...'

3506
03:06:54,360 --> 03:06:56,400
There is the sun.

3507
03:06:56,400 --> 03:07:00,280
'..for superbly accurate
longitude calculation.'

3508
03:07:00,280 --> 03:07:02,680
We're somewhere
north of the dog's arse.

3509
03:07:02,680 --> 03:07:06,680
'For the first time,
Cook knew exactly where he was.

3510
03:07:06,680 --> 03:07:10,360
'But unfortunately,
where he was was the Antarctic.

3511
03:07:12,240 --> 03:07:15,000
'This isn't authentic
18th century footage,

3512
03:07:15,000 --> 03:07:19,320
'but the misery of sub-zero
sailing transcends time.'

3513
03:07:19,320 --> 03:07:21,280
It was utterly crap.

3514
03:07:21,280 --> 03:07:25,800
The ropes turned to solid ice,
the sails turned to sheets of steel,

3515
03:07:25,800 --> 03:07:30,200
the animals froze to death,
the crew had to stay below deck

3516
03:07:30,200 --> 03:07:34,520
and were miserable and moaned
constantly, as crews often do.

3517
03:07:34,520 --> 03:07:36,200
But Cook fought bravely on.

3518
03:07:36,200 --> 03:07:39,160
He went below 70 degrees south,

3519
03:07:39,160 --> 03:07:43,960
and he became the first person
to cross the Antarctic Circle.

3520
03:07:45,080 --> 03:07:48,600
'Cook had gone further
than any man had gone before.

3521
03:07:48,600 --> 03:07:51,040
'And it sounds bloody awful.

3522
03:07:51,040 --> 03:07:53,400
'The ships pushed on south,

3523
03:07:53,400 --> 03:07:56,320
'through howling gales
and stormy seas.

3524
03:07:56,320 --> 03:08:00,280
'But thick fog and a great wall
of sea ice blocked their path,

3525
03:08:00,280 --> 03:08:03,400
'and the Great Southern Continent
eluded them.

3526
03:08:03,400 --> 03:08:06,000
'They didn't see land
for four months,

3527
03:08:06,000 --> 03:08:09,840
'which meant they were stalked
by a terrible maritime menace.'

3528
03:08:11,080 --> 03:08:13,640
Scurvy had been the sailor's scourge

3529
03:08:13,640 --> 03:08:16,760
since the first ocean crossings
were attempted.

3530
03:08:16,760 --> 03:08:21,080
In fact, on one naval expedition
to the Pacific during Cook's time,

3531
03:08:21,080 --> 03:08:24,160
two thirds of the crew died from it.

3532
03:08:24,160 --> 03:08:28,400
Here are some pictures
of the symptoms for you to enjoy.

3533
03:08:30,120 --> 03:08:34,640
"Those affected have skin as
black as ink, rictus of the limbs,

3534
03:08:34,640 --> 03:08:38,960
"a strange plethora of gum tissue
sprouting out of the mouth,

3535
03:08:38,960 --> 03:08:40,640
"which immediately rotted

3536
03:08:40,640 --> 03:08:44,960
"and lent the victim's breath
an abominable odour."

3537
03:08:44,960 --> 03:08:46,360
Wow!

3538
03:08:47,520 --> 03:08:50,840
'While we all know
a lack of vitamin C was to blame,

3539
03:08:50,840 --> 03:08:53,320
'back then,
there was just a vague idea

3540
03:08:53,320 --> 03:08:57,080
'that it was something
to do with diet. But what?

3541
03:08:57,080 --> 03:09:01,040
'Cook decided to use his sailors
as human guinea pigs.'

3542
03:09:01,040 --> 03:09:03,960
Now, here on the counter
in front of me,

3543
03:09:03,960 --> 03:09:07,600
'I have a range of possible cures.

3544
03:09:07,600 --> 03:09:10,480
'So I'm going to test Cook's cures
with some...'

3545
03:09:10,480 --> 03:09:15,480
Dichloro...phenolindophenol.

3546
03:09:15,480 --> 03:09:18,600
'Even though the sound of it
is something quite atrocious,

3547
03:09:18,600 --> 03:09:20,520
'it's just an inky blue liquid

3548
03:09:20,520 --> 03:09:22,880
'that goes clear
when you add enough vitamin C.

3549
03:09:24,360 --> 03:09:27,320
'Scientists of the day
recommended lemon juice,

3550
03:09:27,320 --> 03:09:29,600
'which had been boiled down
to preserve it.'

3551
03:09:29,600 --> 03:09:33,200
One, two, three.

3552
03:09:33,200 --> 03:09:35,840
'Sadly for the sailors...'
Oh, dear.

3553
03:09:35,840 --> 03:09:38,320
'..boiling kills off
most of the vitamin C.'

3554
03:09:38,320 --> 03:09:42,240
That's hopeless. Right, sauerkraut.

3555
03:09:42,240 --> 03:09:44,760
'Fermented cabbage sounds
promising.'

3556
03:09:46,320 --> 03:09:48,800
No, that's not looking good
for the jolly sailor boys.

3557
03:09:48,800 --> 03:09:51,720
'Unfortunately,
they boiled that too.'

3558
03:09:51,720 --> 03:09:55,720
OK. Carrot marmalade.

3559
03:09:55,720 --> 03:09:59,240
'Delicious! But that's vitamin A,
wrong vitamin.'

3560
03:09:59,240 --> 03:10:02,480
Point nine. It's just rubbish.

3561
03:10:02,480 --> 03:10:06,920
'It seems most of Cook's cures had
only very low levels of vitamin C.

3562
03:10:06,920 --> 03:10:11,400
'And yet, not a single one
of his sailors would die of scurvy.

3563
03:10:11,400 --> 03:10:14,520
'He believed it was all thanks
to this final cure -

3564
03:10:14,520 --> 03:10:17,000
'an unfermented beer called wort.'

3565
03:10:18,360 --> 03:10:20,720
"He took a quart of the wort.

3566
03:10:20,720 --> 03:10:23,680
"This gave him three stools
in the 24 hours -

3567
03:10:23,680 --> 03:10:26,040
"plentiful, loose and offensive.

3568
03:10:26,040 --> 03:10:30,440
"The discharge became less putrid,
his pains went gradually off.

3569
03:10:30,440 --> 03:10:32,720
"Not a man in the ship
was more in spirits

3570
03:10:32,720 --> 03:10:34,760
"and lively than him."

3571
03:10:34,760 --> 03:10:37,000
'Delightful. Let's see.'

3572
03:10:38,120 --> 03:10:40,080
Greatly championed by Cook.

3573
03:10:40,080 --> 03:10:43,960
He thought
this was the mother of all cures.

3574
03:10:43,960 --> 03:10:49,760
One, two, three, four, five...

3575
03:10:49,760 --> 03:10:52,160
'Cook was right
about most things...'

3576
03:10:52,160 --> 03:10:55,280
68, 69.

3577
03:10:55,280 --> 03:10:56,640
Absolute pish!

3578
03:10:57,760 --> 03:10:59,440
Better off just drinking the beer.

3579
03:10:59,440 --> 03:11:01,800
'..but wort wasn't one of them.'

3580
03:11:01,800 --> 03:11:07,080
There is no vitamin C whatsoever
in the wort.

3581
03:11:07,080 --> 03:11:10,920
'So, how to explain
the mystery of no-one carking it?'

3582
03:11:10,920 --> 03:11:13,320
Cook, being a fastidious man

3583
03:11:13,320 --> 03:11:15,680
and being very concerned
about the welfare of his crew,

3584
03:11:15,680 --> 03:11:19,240
insisted on gathering fresh plants
to eat every time they went ashore.

3585
03:11:19,240 --> 03:11:20,680
That would have made a difference.

3586
03:11:20,680 --> 03:11:22,040
The other thing he did

3587
03:11:22,040 --> 03:11:26,440
was insist that the men washed up
the pans from the cooking

3588
03:11:26,440 --> 03:11:29,280
very, very thoroughly
because if they didn't,

3589
03:11:29,280 --> 03:11:31,560
there was a residue of animal fat
in them,

3590
03:11:31,560 --> 03:11:33,920
that would get into people's guts,

3591
03:11:33,920 --> 03:11:38,600
and that would impede
the absorption of vitamin C.

3592
03:11:38,600 --> 03:11:41,960
'Cook's crew might not have been
getting much extra vitamin C,

3593
03:11:41,960 --> 03:11:45,200
'but unlike other sailors,
they could properly digest

3594
03:11:45,200 --> 03:11:47,760
'the tiny amounts of it
in their normal food.

3595
03:11:47,760 --> 03:11:50,280
'Cook was clueless, though.

3596
03:11:50,280 --> 03:11:54,800
'He reported back to the Navy
that the miracle cure was wort.'

3597
03:11:54,800 --> 03:11:57,320
So, in reality,

3598
03:11:57,320 --> 03:12:03,080
Cook probably set the war on scurvy
back by a number of years.

3599
03:12:04,640 --> 03:12:05,600
Sorry.

3600
03:12:06,720 --> 03:12:10,080
'When he finally arrived home
in 1775,

3601
03:12:10,080 --> 03:12:13,840
'Cook was celebrated
as the greatest captain of the age.

3602
03:12:13,840 --> 03:12:16,720
'He could retire a happy man.'

3603
03:12:16,720 --> 03:12:22,360
Cook was famous, the first person on
Earth to cross the Antarctic Circle.

3604
03:12:22,360 --> 03:12:26,920
He was splashed on front pages,
he dined with nobility,

3605
03:12:26,920 --> 03:12:30,120
his portrait was painted
by the great artists of the age.

3606
03:12:30,120 --> 03:12:33,480
But he was now 46 years old,

3607
03:12:33,480 --> 03:12:36,360
that was a ripe old age
for a mariner at the time.

3608
03:12:36,360 --> 03:12:39,480
So he decided on a gentler command.

3609
03:12:39,480 --> 03:12:41,040
He came and he took charge

3610
03:12:41,040 --> 03:12:45,720
of the Naval Hospital for
Retired Sailors here in Greenwich.

3611
03:12:49,360 --> 03:12:51,480
That lasted for three months.

3612
03:12:51,480 --> 03:12:55,840
'You just can't keep
a good salty seadog down.

3613
03:12:55,840 --> 03:12:58,840
'One last challenge awaited Cook.

3614
03:12:58,840 --> 03:13:03,240
'Off he went, via his old haunts
of New Zealand and Tahiti,

3615
03:13:03,240 --> 03:13:05,840
'in search
of the Northwest Passage -

3616
03:13:05,840 --> 03:13:08,640
'a sea route linking Europe
with Asia

3617
03:13:08,640 --> 03:13:11,520
'over the top
of the frozen north of Canada.

3618
03:13:11,520 --> 03:13:16,000
'But by this third voyage,
something was different about Cook.

3619
03:13:16,000 --> 03:13:18,600
'He was becoming a bit of a tyrant.'

3620
03:13:20,000 --> 03:13:23,680
His temper became
violent and uncontrollable,

3621
03:13:23,680 --> 03:13:26,720
and the punishments
he dished out grew in severity.

3622
03:13:26,720 --> 03:13:31,560
12 lashes became 24 lashes,
then 48 lashes and then 72.

3623
03:13:31,560 --> 03:13:35,160
And he had some bloke's ears cut off
because he'd nicked something.

3624
03:13:35,160 --> 03:13:37,800
And on one island, he burned
a whole village to the ground

3625
03:13:37,800 --> 03:13:41,080
over a dispute
about two stolen goats.

3626
03:13:43,360 --> 03:13:44,840
'There are various theories

3627
03:13:44,840 --> 03:13:48,040
'on illness or infection
affecting Cook's behaviour.

3628
03:13:48,040 --> 03:13:50,320
'And whilst it's in no way
an excuse,

3629
03:13:50,320 --> 03:13:52,400
'spending most of your life at sea

3630
03:13:52,400 --> 03:13:55,120
'must have sent you
off the deep end a bit.

3631
03:13:55,120 --> 03:13:57,520
'Let's ask
the scariest captain I know.'

3632
03:13:59,120 --> 03:14:00,800
Out in the middle of the ocean,

3633
03:14:00,800 --> 03:14:02,680
has either of you ever gone
a bit mad?

3634
03:14:03,960 --> 03:14:06,680
You know, thick fog for days,
cold and fog.

3635
03:14:06,680 --> 03:14:10,320
You're restrained to your quarters,
it's miserable.

3636
03:14:10,320 --> 03:14:12,760
I think on the longer passages,

3637
03:14:12,760 --> 03:14:15,160
everyone is gonna go
a little bit mad.

3638
03:14:15,160 --> 03:14:17,040
Yeah.
It's like you almost feel

3639
03:14:17,040 --> 03:14:19,640
like you're in a goldfish bowl.

3640
03:14:19,640 --> 03:14:22,000
Except that you know that
no-one's looking in.

3641
03:14:22,000 --> 03:14:23,840
I mean, if you were
with just your film crew,

3642
03:14:23,840 --> 03:14:26,200
how long would it take you
to go mad with them?

3643
03:14:26,200 --> 03:14:27,880
About 15 minutes usually.
Yeah, exactly.

3644
03:14:27,880 --> 03:14:30,840
So can you imagine, you know,
three weeks in a sort of...

3645
03:14:30,840 --> 03:14:32,680
Yeah, but what about three years?

3646
03:14:34,000 --> 03:14:37,840
'Royal Navy physicians of the time
calculated that

3647
03:14:37,840 --> 03:14:42,240
'sailors were seven times more
likely to go mad than landlubbers.

3648
03:14:42,240 --> 03:14:45,040
'And for captains,
it was even worse.'

3649
03:14:45,040 --> 03:14:47,800
I suppose command is lonely
anyway, isn't it?

3650
03:14:47,800 --> 03:14:50,760
Because you have to maintain
a distance

3651
03:14:50,760 --> 03:14:52,360
to maintain your authority.

3652
03:14:52,360 --> 03:14:55,120
Yeah, they do call it
"the lonely burden of command"

3653
03:14:55,120 --> 03:14:58,080
and the responsibility
on your shoulders

3654
03:14:58,080 --> 03:15:00,360
is a great deal more than
when you're just a deckhand.

3655
03:15:00,360 --> 03:15:01,960
And you don't sleep

3656
03:15:01,960 --> 03:15:04,680
because you are responsible
for everybody and the boat.

3657
03:15:04,680 --> 03:15:08,360
But I haven't gone mad yet...
I don't think.

3658
03:15:08,360 --> 03:15:10,720
It's not really for you to judge,
though, is it?

3659
03:15:10,720 --> 03:15:12,400
No, not really.
I suppose not. Good point.

3660
03:15:12,400 --> 03:15:16,360
'Cook's displeasure cruise
finally reached the Arctic.

3661
03:15:16,360 --> 03:15:19,640
'He pushed his crew hard -
to the very edge of mutiny -

3662
03:15:19,640 --> 03:15:23,360
'and once more, went further
than any man had gone before...

3663
03:15:24,480 --> 03:15:26,240
'..but no further.

3664
03:15:26,240 --> 03:15:30,000
'Only 50 miles south of where
the North West Passage begins,

3665
03:15:30,000 --> 03:15:33,360
'ice forced them to retreat south
for winter.

3666
03:15:33,360 --> 03:15:37,200
'And handily, they'd stumbled
across the Hawaiian Islands -

3667
03:15:37,200 --> 03:15:39,480
'another first for Europeans.

3668
03:15:39,480 --> 03:15:42,280
'But a last for Cook.'

3669
03:15:42,280 --> 03:15:46,000
At first, it was just like
the early days in Tahiti.

3670
03:15:46,000 --> 03:15:48,920
The Hawaiians welcomed
these weird sailors

3671
03:15:48,920 --> 03:15:52,240
and fed them
and threw great parties for them.

3672
03:15:52,240 --> 03:15:56,640
And when the ships finally departed,
everybody was the best of mates.

3673
03:15:56,640 --> 03:16:00,040
But then a mast broke,
and the ships had to return,

3674
03:16:00,040 --> 03:16:04,440
and this time, the reception
was not quite so friendly.

3675
03:16:04,440 --> 03:16:06,800
And soon, all the old tensions
started to emerge.

3676
03:16:06,800 --> 03:16:08,760
One of Cook's rowing boats
disappeared,

3677
03:16:08,760 --> 03:16:13,160
and in one of his increasingly
violent and unreasonable rages,

3678
03:16:13,160 --> 03:16:17,400
he set off with a party to a local
village to try and kidnap the king.

3679
03:16:19,200 --> 03:16:21,960
'There was panicking,
and there was shooting.

3680
03:16:21,960 --> 03:16:24,520
'Blades were brandished,
bullets were fired,

3681
03:16:24,520 --> 03:16:27,960
'and four marines
and dozens of Hawaiians were killed.

3682
03:16:27,960 --> 03:16:31,600
'Cook was stabbed to death
and his body burned.'

3683
03:16:34,200 --> 03:16:37,400
Cook's powdered wig
would never be found.

3684
03:16:38,920 --> 03:16:42,960
'How to sum up
a man of so many contradictions?

3685
03:16:42,960 --> 03:16:47,640
'A son of a farmer, who rose to
the greatest heights of celebrity?

3686
03:16:47,640 --> 03:16:51,680
'A conscientious captain, on whose
watch terrible things happened?

3687
03:16:51,680 --> 03:16:57,360
'A symbol of national pride
or of the evils of Empire?'

3688
03:16:57,360 --> 03:17:00,560
Captain James Cook is
a British legend.

3689
03:17:00,560 --> 03:17:02,520
SOMBRE MUSIC

3690
03:17:04,080 --> 03:17:07,120
Here is his statue
looking out over Whitby

3691
03:17:07,120 --> 03:17:09,480
where he learned
so much of his craft.

3692
03:17:10,800 --> 03:17:12,000
Elsewhere in the world,

3693
03:17:12,000 --> 03:17:15,440
in Australia and New Zealand and
some of the islands where he landed,

3694
03:17:15,440 --> 03:17:19,080
he's sometimes referred to
as "Captain Crook".

3695
03:17:19,080 --> 03:17:20,920
And many of his statues
have been pulled down

3696
03:17:20,920 --> 03:17:22,480
for all the usual reasons.

3697
03:17:24,440 --> 03:17:26,800
But hang on a minute.
It has been said that

3698
03:17:26,800 --> 03:17:29,600
we should live in the present
for the sake of progress,

3699
03:17:29,600 --> 03:17:32,800
but with an eye to the future
for the sake of humanity.

3700
03:17:32,800 --> 03:17:37,200
And I think that's
how Captain Cook lived and worked.

3701
03:17:37,200 --> 03:17:41,600
I mean he... he enormously advanced
the sciences of navigation,

3702
03:17:41,600 --> 03:17:45,000
map-making, surveying,
even crew welfare.

3703
03:17:45,000 --> 03:17:46,680
But at the same time,

3704
03:17:46,680 --> 03:17:51,280
his diary is riddled with self-doubt
about what he's doing

3705
03:17:51,280 --> 03:17:54,040
and the effect
it might have on people.

3706
03:17:54,040 --> 03:17:57,800
In truth, I don't think Cook
was interested in wealth or power,

3707
03:17:57,800 --> 03:17:59,560
he was a nerd.

3708
03:17:59,560 --> 03:18:01,240
Look at his work,
look at his journal,

3709
03:18:01,240 --> 03:18:03,720
look at his books
of navigation homework.

3710
03:18:03,720 --> 03:18:06,920
Captain Cook's legacy is enormous.

3711
03:18:06,920 --> 03:18:09,480
He completed our view of the world

3712
03:18:09,480 --> 03:18:12,520
and with it, perhaps,
our view of ourselves.

3713
03:18:15,560 --> 03:18:18,240
Right. Let's explore fish and chips.

3714
03:18:18,240 --> 03:18:20,120
'BARNACLE BILL' PLAYS