In many aspects, James Cook’s voyages of discovery in the South Pacific are part of the revolution of knowledge of the Age of Enlightenment. However, they not only laid the geographical foundation for the modern transformation of the old world view,but also formed the prelude for the momentous encounter and interaction of cultures. Like no other traveler before him, Georg Forster provides extraordinary insight into Cook’s second journey around the world through his literary travelogue Reise um die Welt [Voyage around the World] (1777?1780). In his travelogue Forster addresses fundamental problems of cultural encounter, which are discussed in this study in an exemplary manner.