- - - - FREE SHIPPING ON EVERY ORDER - - - -

Translation missing: en.general.language.dropdown_label

Translation missing: en.general.currency.dropdown_label

0 Cart
Added to Cart
      You have items in your cart
      You have 1 item in your cart
        Total

        Captain Cook arrives in Hawai'i
        British Captain James Cook arrived in the Islands on his third voyage to the Pacific. Commanding the Resolution and Discovery on a mission to explore a Northwest Passage and to plot the transit of Venus, Cook first sighted the islands of O'ahu, then Kaua'i and Ni'ihau on January 18, 1778. Greeted as a sacred high chief or a god, Cook responded to islanders' hospitality by leaving Hawaiians three goats, two English pigs, and seeds to plant melons, pumpkins, and onions. After naming the Islands after his patron, John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, Cook left for northern waters to complete his mission. Returning in November to winter in the Islands, Cook and his ships tacked off the coasts of Maui and Hawai'i for eight weeks before anchoring for an extended stay at Kealakekua Bay. The official account of Cook's voyage published in three volumes appeared in 1784. The popular official publication went through several editions, augmented by numerous pirated versions and translations.

        Captain Cook killed
        Captain Cook and the crews of the Discovery and Resolution arrived at Kealakekua Bay in late 1778 at the start of the Hawaiian harvest and tax paying season known as the Makahiki. Greeted ritually as gods and presented with gifts and offerings, Cook and his men drew heavily from the resources of the area to provision their ships and left February 4, 1779, amidst increasing tension between natives and crew members. While proceeding along the Kohala coast, the ships encountered a gale. A damaged mast on the Resolution forced the ships to return immediately to Kealakekua to make repairs. After armorer's tongs and later a cutter was stolen from the Discovery, Cook went ashore February 14 with nine marines and attempted to take Kalani`opu`u, a powerful Hawai'i island chief, as hostage. A scuffle ensued between the Hawaiians and Cook's shore party in which Cook and four marines lost their lives. Cook, Britain's greatest navigator, was 51 years old at his death. After the skirmish, a truce was declared, communication was resumed and the damaged mast was repaired. After the British requested the return of Cook's remains, the Hawaiians returned personal effects and part of Cook's body. The Resolution and Discovery left Hawai'i February 22, 1779 under the command of Captain Charles Clerke and Captain James King.

        An eyewitness account by Lieutenant Molesworth Phillips, who received a spear wound in the conflict.
        Marines were falling on the rocks or as they began to wade out, tantalizingly close to salvation. Private Harrison appeared to the boat's crews to be literally hacked to pieces. Tom Fatchett went down too, his head as red from gushing blood as his uniform jacket. John Jackson, Oldest of the privates and a veteran who had survived a long campaign in Germany, was struck by a spear in the face, just below the eye. Screaming with pain, he attempted to draw it out, and it broke off, With blood pouring from the wound, he waded out and fell into the sea... Our unfortunate Commander, the last time he was seen distinctly, was standing on the water's edge, and calling out to the boats to cease firing, and to pull in. If it be true, as some of those who were present have imagined, that the boat-men had fired without his orders, and that he was desirous of preventing any further bloodshed, it is not improbable, that his humanity, on this occasion, proved fatal to him... having turned about, to give his orders to the boats, he was stabbed in the back, and fell with his face into the water.

        Source: HawaiiHistory.org