CAPTAIN COOK AND THE SOUTH PACIFIC (269 pp.)John GwyfherHoughton Mifflin ($3.50).
As the sullen waters spumed in white fury along the Great Barrier Reef, steely, hidden fingers of coral dug into the bottom of the Endeavour and the hearts of every man aboard. Ordinarily, 18th century seamen panicked fast. Most of them were too superstitious to learn how to swim; they felt it would only prolong the agony of drowning. The only rule of shipwreck and death was to loot the liquor supplies and drink oneself insensible in the short time left to live.
Not so the crew of Captain Cook. Under his...
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