Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
sailed into the main Hawaiian Island chain. Ending nearly half a millennium of isolation,
his arrival irrevocably altered the course of Hawaiian history.
Cook dropped anchor off Oʻahu and, as he had elsewhere in the Pacific, bartered with
the indigenous people for fresh water and food. While Cook was already familiar with
Polynesians, Hawaiians knew nothing of Europeans, nor of the metal, guns and diseases
their ships carried. Hawaiians thought of the natural world inseparable from the spiritual
realm, while Cook embodied Enlightenment philosophy, in which God ruled in heaven
and only humans walked the earth.
When Cook returned to the islands almost a year later, he sailed around before eventu-
ally anchoring at Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island. Cook's ships were greeted by a
thousand canoes, and Hawaiian chiefs and priests honored him with rituals and deferen-
ce. Cook had landed at an auspicious time during the makahiki, a time of festival and cel-
ebration in honor of the god Lono, and some have theorized that the Hawaiians mistook
Cook for the god. The Hawaiians were so unrelentingly gracious, in fact, that Cook and
his men felt safe to move about unarmed.
Cook set sail some weeks later, but storms forced him to turn back. The mood in Keal-
akekua had changed, however. The makahiki had ended: no canoes met him and suspi-
cion replaced welcome. A small series of minor conflicts provoked Cook into leading an
armed party ashore to capture local chief Kalaniopuʻu. When the Englishmen disem-
barked, they were surrounded by angry Hawaiians. In an uncharacteristic fit of pique,
Cook shot and killed a Hawaiian man. The Hawaiians immediately mobbed Cook, killing
him on February 14, 1779.
In
Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
, Tony Horwitz
examines the controversial legacy of Captain Cook's South Seas voyages, weaving
amusing real-life adventure tales together with bittersweet oral history.
Reign of Kamehameha the Great
In the years following Cook's death, a steady number of exploring and trading ships
sought out the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as a resupply spot. With the discovery of a deepwa-
ter anchorage in Honolulu Harbor in 1794, Hawaiʻi became the new darling of trans-Pa-
cific commerce, first in the fur trade involving China, New England and the Pacific
Northwest. The main commodity in the islands - salt - happened to be useful for curing
hides. For Hawaiian chiefs, the main items of interest were firearms, which the
Europeans willingly traded.
