The death of Captain Cook
On November 26, 1778, the James Cook expedition reached the Hawaiian Islands, but suitable parking for ships was found only on January 16, 1779. The inhabitants of the islands — the Hawaiians — concentrated in large numbers around the ships; Cook, in his notes, estimated their number at several thousand. Later it became known that the high interest and special attitude of the islanders to the expedition were due to the fact that they took Cook for one of their gods.
The good relations, established at first between the members of the expedition and the Hawaiians, began, however, to deteriorate rapidly; every day the number of embezzlements committed by Hawaiians increased, and the clashes that arose because of attempts to recover stolen things, became more and more hot.
Feeling that the situation was heating up, Cook left the bay on February 4, however, the storm that began soon caused serious damage to the Resolution of the rigging and on February 10 the ships were forced to return for repair. Sails and rigging parts were brought ashore for repairs.
The attitude of the Hawaiians to the expedition became meanwhile frankly hostile. Many armed men appeared in the area. The number of thefts increased. On February 13, ticks were stolen from the Resolution resolution deck. An attempt to return them was unsuccessful and ended with an open collision.
The next day, February 14, the longboat with the Resolution was stolen. In order to return the stolen property, Cook decided to take on board as a hostage Kalaniop, one of the local leaders. Having landed with a group of armed men, consisting of ten marines led by Lieutenant Phillips, he went to the leader’s residence and invited him to the ship. Having accepted the offer, Kalaniopa followed the British, but at the coast refused to follow further, presumably, yielding to the persuasion of his wife.
Meanwhile, several thousand Hawaiians gathered on the beach, who surrounded Cook and his people, pushing them to the water. There was a rumor among them that the British had killed several Hawaiians, and these rumors, as well as Cook’s not entirely unambiguous behavior, prompted the crowd to begin hostile actions.
In the ensuing battle, Cook himself and four sailors died, the rest managed to retreat to the ship. There are several contradictory eyewitness accounts of those events, and it is difficult to judge from them what happened in reality. With a sufficient degree of authenticity, we can only say that among the British there was a panic, the team began to retreat randomly to the boats, and in this confusion Cook was killed by Hawaiians (allegedly by a spear in the back of his head).
The good relations, established at first between the members of the expedition and the Hawaiians, began, however, to deteriorate rapidly; every day the number of embezzlements committed by Hawaiians increased, and the clashes that arose because of attempts to recover stolen things, became more and more hot.
Feeling that the situation was heating up, Cook left the bay on February 4, however, the storm that began soon caused serious damage to the Resolution of the rigging and on February 10 the ships were forced to return for repair. Sails and rigging parts were brought ashore for repairs.
Photo © ru.wikipedia.org
The attitude of the Hawaiians to the expedition became meanwhile frankly hostile. Many armed men appeared in the area. The number of thefts increased. On February 13, ticks were stolen from the Resolution resolution deck. An attempt to return them was unsuccessful and ended with an open collision.
The next day, February 14, the longboat with the Resolution was stolen. In order to return the stolen property, Cook decided to take on board as a hostage Kalaniop, one of the local leaders. Having landed with a group of armed men, consisting of ten marines led by Lieutenant Phillips, he went to the leader’s residence and invited him to the ship. Having accepted the offer, Kalaniopa followed the British, but at the coast refused to follow further, presumably, yielding to the persuasion of his wife.
Meanwhile, several thousand Hawaiians gathered on the beach, who surrounded Cook and his people, pushing them to the water. There was a rumor among them that the British had killed several Hawaiians, and these rumors, as well as Cook’s not entirely unambiguous behavior, prompted the crowd to begin hostile actions.
In the ensuing battle, Cook himself and four sailors died, the rest managed to retreat to the ship. There are several contradictory eyewitness accounts of those events, and it is difficult to judge from them what happened in reality. With a sufficient degree of authenticity, we can only say that among the British there was a panic, the team began to retreat randomly to the boats, and in this confusion Cook was killed by Hawaiians (allegedly by a spear in the back of his head).
