Cook’s career had been a rollcall of lucky escapes, and his heavy-handed management of relationships with crew and indigenous people alike on the third voyage suggests he now considered himself above recrimination. Perhaps his long absence from the world he’d grown up in, where social conventions would have kept him in check, not to mention his many near misses, had cultivated a sense of immortality in him – a sense that the normal rules no longer applied to him.
In Hawai‘i, his fearlessness and determination to lead from the front had crossed the line and entered the realm of recklessness. If he believed the Hawaiians recognised him as a deity, that would hardly have helped him keep a lid on his sense of mortality and human frailty.
SAM NEILL
Cook got the first taste of the extraordinary adulation that persisted wherever he went in the next few weeks . . . What’s equally interesting, I think, is what Cook was thinking. Could he be forgiven for imagining himself as something more than human? We’ll never know because the journals from that part of the journey no longer exist.
Uncharacteristically for a man who had always shown a determination to keep a record of his adventures, it seems Cook gave up on diarising just before his life’s last leg. Or perhaps all his journal entries from this time have been lost. Or some question whether the Admiralty or Charles Clerke, who assumed command after Cook’s death, might have decided to do a little judicious editing because Cook’s account reflected a mental fissure in his last days that didn’t measure up to the grand myth being constructed posthumously around his name.
*
Possible delusions of grandeur aside, Cook’s stay in Hawai‘i was generally delightful thanks to the Hawai‘ians’ eagerness to make things as comfortable as possible for him and his men. Two chieftains, Kanina and Palea, voluntarily posted themselves as sentries on board the two ships to police their compatriots – any thieves were severely punished, and female visitation was restricted to the hours after dark. While on board, the two Hawaiian men impressed the officers with their insights and sophisticated questions about the British way of life.
JAMES KING (1750–1784) Officer, Royal Navy, crew member, Cook’s third voyage
[They] asked after our King; the nature of our government; our numbers; the method of building our ships; our houses; the produce of our country; whether we had wars; with whom . . . and many other questions of the same nature, which indicated an understanding of great comprehension.
The men on board the ship had many opportunities of their own to observe the Hawaiians going about their everyday lives. One thing that baffled them was the prevalence of homosexuality. The Hawaiian king, Kalani‘ōpu‘u, was attended by a number of aikāne, or male lovers, who tended to his needs – amongst them Palea, the chieftain who was acting as mediator on the British ships.
DAVID SAMWELL (1751–1798)
Their business is to commit the Sin of Onan upon the old King . . . it is an office that is esteemed honourable among them & they have frequently asked us on seeing a handsome young fellow if he was not an aikāne to some of us.
As a side note, the term ‘Sin of Onan’ is a delicate way to describe the spilling of seed, or masturbation, and named for the Old Testament figure, Onan, who defied his father’s orders to impregnate his deceased brother’s wife by withdrawing before the deed was done.
For almost three weeks, Cook enjoyed the hospitality of the Hawai‘ian people. It came at no small cost to the locals – finding enough food to support two hundred men who had arrived with scant supplies of their own meant Kalani‘ōpu‘u had to call on villagers from across the island to satisfy the constant demands being made on the people of Kealakekua Bay.
GORDON KANAKANUI LESLIE
Now keep in mind even though the people greeted him like a royal guest when he arrived here, Cook and his men were somewhat disrespectful in a sense that you know when you have that one guest who spends a little too long in your house. Provisions for Cook’s men – there’s almost two hundred of them – for twenty days, well, it takes a lot of food. So their resources were being tapped to the point where they had to go to a nearby district which is about sixty miles [one hundred kilometres] from here to ask them to bring food to help take care of their guests in here. And Cook and his men were rather disrespectful in that when they needed firewood for their stoves they removed all the fence posts from around the temple and when that wasn’t enough, they took the tikis and cut them up for firewood as well. But because the Hawaiians respected him, they allowed him to do it. But it left them with a really bad taste in their mouth.
When Cook’s men struggled to find firewood in the interior of the island, he was granted permission to dismantle the fence around the Hikiau heiau – the temple where he had been honoured when he first arrived – to burn as firewood. Although the Hawaiians begrudgingly agreed to let him do it, they were less than pleased. Cook had outstayed his welcome, god incarnate or not.
ANNE LOKOMAIKA‘I LIPSCOMB: . . . Everything was made available to you and sometimes that gift comes with great expectation. But, perhaps you take that generosity for granted and go too far. Then those actions have repercussions that again change everything.
SAM NEILL: Never outstay your welcome. If there’s one moral to this story, it’s that, isn’t it?
ANNE LOKOMAIKA‘I LIPSCOMB: That’s right. Hospitality is so valued, but the flip side is that if it is not respected. then there are enormous consequences.
Kalani‘ōpu‘u and the other chieftains approached Cook and asked when he planned to leave. He told them it would be soon, and their relief was evident. Second Lieutenant James King, who would end up captaining the Discovery, had made a strong connection with the Hawaiians, and Kalani‘ōpu‘u, thinking he was Cook’s son, asked if King might be permitted to stay on the island. Cook, of course, declined the generous offer. If King had known he was to die of tuberculosis just four years after the Resolution and Discovery returned to England, he might have chosen to live out his remaining years in Hawai‘i.
*
With much fanfare, the two ships departed Kealakekua Bay on 4 February 1779. Cook’s plan was to visit Maui and explore the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. For Kalani‘ōpu‘u and his subjects, this was perfect synergy. It was the day Lono’s departure was predicted to occur. The prophecy as proclaimed by the King and the priests of Lono had been fulfilled.
But it didn’t go quite as planned. Sometimes the smallest things can be your undoing. During the voyage, there must have been many occasions when Cook looked at the irresolute Resolution with its shoddy caulking and rotting timbers and thought that it would be the death of him. Unfortunately, he was right.
A foremast that had been replaced in Nootka gave way, rotten and weakened by the constant battering it had endured in the Arctic. Just three days after the British ships left Kealakekua Bay, the mast snapped in a storm and – to add insult to injury – the Resolution sprang another serious leak. What to do but to return for repairs to the bay where Cook had enjoyed the most hospitable welcome of all his voyages?
If the men on board had been expecting a ticker-tape parade and bunting when they reappeared in Kealakekua Bay, they would have been sorely disappointed. Unlike their previous arrival, there was nobody around to greet them. Those locals they encountered were sullen and less than happy to see them.
Again, Cook had revealed his inability to truly understand local traditions and belief systems, despite having spent so many years amongst Polynesian people.
Kalani‘ōpu‘u came on board and was clearly irritated to see Cook again. For one thing, he suspected the British were back because they were planning to stay and establish themselves on the island. But what caused him the greatest displeasure was that it violated the King’s will. By returning to the island, Cook had undermined his and the priests’ authority by defying expectations about how Lono was meant to behave.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARK D. MCCOY
So Cook had broken generations of rules about how L
ono is expected to act. He left from the place where Lono was ritually put in a canoe and sent off but by returning he had flown in the face of the priests and the King who had received him as Lono by not doing the things that Lono would do. This was seen as a bad omen and so their reception was very chilly when he returned.
Tensions mounted, with neither party really wanting the ships to be there – including the men on board, who were eager to move on.
JOHN LEDYARD
Our return to this bay was as disagreeable to us as it was to the inhabitants, because we were reciprocally tired of each other. They had been oppressed and were wary of our prostituted alliance, and we were aggrieved by the consideration of wanting the provisions and refreshments of the country.
As the crew attempted to repair the ship, canoes ferried supplies out to them. But unlike during the previous visit, the Hawaiians indulged in rampant thievery and were flogged when captured red-handed. On shore, where once the sailors had been welcomed they were now mocked and attacked. George Vancouver and the Discovery’s master, Thomas Edgar, set off to retrieve a purloined pinnace and ended up in a dispute that resulted in Palea – Kalani‘ōpu‘u’s lover and the chieftain who had kept order on board the Discovery – being beaten about the head. This was a dreadful breach of kapu (sacred power). As was the case elsewhere in Polynesia, in Hawai‘i the hair and head of a chieftain was revered. Palea was gracious and stopped his warriors from seeking retribution. But things were going off the rails fast. And it was about to get a whole lot worse.
On 14 February 1779, a cutter was stolen from the Discovery. Furious, Cook commanded Charles Clerke to go ashore and take Kalani‘ōpu‘u hostage. Clerke, a veteran of all three of Cook’s voyages, had contracted tuberculosis between journeys when he agreed to serve time in prison for a debt incurred by his brother. The disease plagued him on the third voyage, and he was severely ill when Cook called on him to retrieve the stolen boat.
Cook decided to take matters into his own hands. His high-handed method of punishing behaviour he deemed unacceptable on the part of indigenous populations – hostage taking – had proven to be effective in the past. But it had also been the cause of numerous near misses, with Cook barely escaping violent retribution and doing untold damage to his relationship with the indigenous people of the Pacific. Kalani‘ōpu‘u was Cook’s ritual friend – they had exchanged names and the King had given Cook extremely significant gifts steeped in mana. In the Polynesian belief system, the two men were now fused, in a way. Kalani‘ōpu‘u was Cook, and Cook was Kalani‘ōpu‘u. So for Cook to consider taking the King hostage was absurd. But because hostage taking had worked for Cook before, he assumed it would work again. So he went ashore with ten armed marines intent on the course of action and oblivious to the dangers inherent in the undertaking.
Cook did not for a moment think Kalani‘ōpu‘u was responsible for – or even aware of – the theft, but he believed this was the only way to resolve the issue. He was led to Kalani‘ōpu‘u’s side by the King’s two sons.
Kalani‘ōpu‘u was sleeping but was roused to receive his visitor. Cook invited the King to visit the Resolution and escorted him down to the beach. On the way, a shocking piece of news reached the village. A party from the Discovery had shot and killed another chieftain, Kalimu. On hearing this, and fearing the worst, Kalani‘ōpu‘u’s senior wife begged the King not to accompany Cook. Kalani‘ōpu‘u responded with a form of peaceful protest. He embraced Cook, explained he could go no further with him, and sat down.
There are differing opinions about what happened next.
SAM NEILL
There is much conjecture about the day that Cook was killed. But what is generally understood is the Hawaiians made a series of small thefts but when one of Cook’s important boats was stolen, Cook flew into a rage and went ashore with a plan that had served him well in the past – to take the chief hostage in order to get it back. But as to the details – well, everyone has a different take.
Contemporary accounts of Cook’s death are contradictory, perhaps because those on board were concerned about protecting their own reputations when, as they expected, recriminations would be sought for the death of their commander in circumstances that should have been avoidable. But certain details are generally accepted as being accurate.
Kalani‘ōpu‘u was surrounded by a crowd of two to three thousand people, all urging him to resist Cook’s entreaties. The marines were lined up on shore facing the crowd, their guns raised.
Determined to get Kalani‘ōpu‘u to cooperate, Cook attempted to lift him to his feet. But laying your hands on the King was an appalling breach of protocol. A warrior stepped in to attack Cook, who pulled the trigger on his pistol and peppered his attacker with small shot – to no effect.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARK D. MCCOY
Cook made a number of missteps that really set things off. It’s also important to remember he was killed in a very chaotic moment. I doubt in the ten minutes prior to the event that the King could have predicted that Cook was going to be killed. Certainly, Cook had no idea or else he would have gotten out of there faster. What we know from the written accounts is that Cook arrived here and sought out King Kalani‘ōpu‘u. This was not unusual – he had talked to the King and the King had been on board his ship before. So Cook was trying to entice the King to come with him, but the King’s family and his retainers saw it for what it was and knew things were going badly. So Cook’s plan starts to unravel when the King just sits down on the beach. And you can’t move a king – Cook should have known this. Imagine if one of Kalani‘ōpu‘u’s warriors went to the court of King George and tried to grab King George by the collar and take him out to his Polynesian canoe! That wouldn’t have gone down well either.
The marines opened fire and Cook loaded his gun, shooting and killing another Hawaiian. From the boats offshore, the sailors who had brought Cook to the beach also opened fire. Turning to the boats, Cook waved at the men to put their guns down and implored them to come to shore. Because Cook couldn’t swim, he needed his men to carry him and the marines to safety. He had no way of retreating from the menacing crowd on the beach without a boat. He was stranded.
As Cook appealed for help, one warrior struck him on the back of the head with a club. Another stabbed him in the neck with a knife – one of the blades that had been fashioned from the Discovery’s anchor in Unalaska.
With a single cry – ‘My God!’ – Cook fell into the water between two rocks and was beaten to death.
GORDON KANAKANUI LESLIE
Some people tell me that the Hawaiians knew about Cook taking hostages in Tahiti so when Cook approached Kalani‘ōpu‘u, who was just getting up – he was hungover from kava – thousands of people followed them, trying to discourage the chief from going with Cook. When his wife begged him not to go, Kalani‘ōpu‘u sat on the ground. Cook put his hand out to pull the chief to his feet. But commoners and foreigners are not allowed to touch this man, so when he did that, the women and children in the crowd retreated. But at that moment, they heard cannons and gunshots going off. When Cook had left the ship he had given his officers instructions not to let any canoe leave the bay. So another famous chief was shot by the men on the ship and that’s when the warriors started mustering up their weapons. Captain Cook sees all this and he ordered the marines to the water’s edge to face the crowd. When they fired into the air, the natives went nuts. Cook runs down to the water’s edge to get away from the crowd. But then he gets stabbed, he gets clubbed, and then pushed under the water to die.
ALEXANDER HOME (1739–1823), crew member, Cook’s third voyage
Captain Cook stood on the edge of the rock waiting for the boat for [he] could not swim and when he stood in that position one of the chiefs came behind him and stabbed in the back with an iron dagger . . . which had been forged on board the ships . . . Captain Cook being thus mortally wounded tumbled down the rock into the sea and his head fell into a gully betwixt two narrow rocks.
He attempted to get up, could not and I believe was suffocated in the water.
And, just like that, Cook was gone.
Four marines and many Hawaiians were killed in the chaos that followed. The Hawaiians, for the most part, fled the shore and left Cook’s body and the bodies of the fallen marines lying on the beach. This would have been an opportunity for the generally disliked lieutenant, John Williamson, to retrieve his comrades’ remains. But feebly citing concerns about the viability of weapons that may have been exposed to water and deciding his men didn’t have enough ammunition to fend off an attack, Williamson gave the order to return to the ships, so forsaking the lifeless body of his commander.
*
Cook’s death was fast and it was brutal. Yet it had also been a long time coming.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARK D. MCCOY
Cook’s luck ran out right here. Rather than ask why Cook was killed, a better question is to ask why it took so long. How did he last as long as he did? How did he survive Aotearoa, Tonga and Tahiti and finally meet his end here in Hawai‘i? It’s puzzling how this person managed to impose himself on his hosts all over the Pacific – it speaks to the wonderful spirit of these people who honoured their obligation as hosts that he survived as long as he did.
In years to come, a man who claimed to have struck the fatal blow gave his version of events. His account seems to confirm that chaos and confusion played a part in Cook’s death.
PIHERE, Hawaiian warrior
I arrived just as the disturbance began and heard my countrymen crying out that the white men were going to kill the King . . . I have a Parhoavah in my hand – all was confusion and in a short time I think Capt. Cook fired, but as nobody was hurt we thought it was only harmless thunders, shortly after a number of men fired & killed several of my countrymen. We then rushed on & I being near the Lono his back turned towards me struck him quite through with the dagger and he fell.
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