When Explorer James Cook Discovered Hawaii And Was Boiled By Natives

James Cook was one of the most prolific British sea captains, sailors, and explorers during his search. He traveled as far afield as Australia, the Bering Straits, and the Antarctic ice shelves, but when he became the first European explorer to visit the Hawaiian Islands, it actually became real.

Who was James Cook?

James Cook was born on October 27, 1728 in Yorkshire, England into a peasant family. He was a smart and inquisitive child by all accounts, and by the time he was a teenager, Cook spent his summers on the trade routes in the North Sea as a notable Quaker ship trainee at Whitby and studied and studied. Months. Having proved himself a capable sailor, he was soon offered command of his own ship and spent the next eight years at sea before serving himself for the Royal Navy, where he quickly rose through the ranks.

For a time, the Royal Navy stationed Cook in Nova Scotia, where he surveyed the coasts of the maritime islands and in 1766 saw a solar eclipse. Cook had a lifelong interest in science and especially astronomy, so he took a detailed note of the incident, which he sent to the Royal Society of London. It was a very unusual move for a non-commissioned officer, who dashed his name to the memory of Cook's Society when he later planned his first expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

Kelekekua Bay and Village Kauroa by John Weber, 1779 Inc. Wash and Watercolor.

Aerial search

The 40-year-old cook was then tapped to command the expedition and given a ship, H.M.S. Endeavor, for the transport of many members of the Royal Society, as well as their assistants and equipment. Cook swept Endeavor around the world, but the bulk of his travels were concentrated in the South Pacific. In January 1778, he and his entourage took place on the island of Hawaii, which he called Sandwich Island, after one of Cook's patrons, John Montague, The Earl of Sandwich.

The crew returned to Hawaii in November and spent several weeks sailing from island to island, surveying the land, recouping their supplies and filing scientific observations. When Cook landed in Kilakekua Bay, his residents were in the midst of a big festival and believed the crew were deities, especially Lono, an aerial god who is believed to have returned to the islanders in a similar fashion.

Captain Cook Memorial Site

Protected, not cannibal

Cook and his crew took full advantage of the hospitality and worship of the people, so one crew member died and thus declared himself mortal, he had much to do. They clearly failed, as the Hawaiian began throwing stones at Cook and his ships, and also stole Cook's small boat. Cook appealed to Hawaii's chief to arrange for the return of the boat, but after things went south, the chief was shot and an angry mob of airmen scorched the Europeans.

After Cook was stabbed in the throat and killed on the beach, the Hawaiian took her body back to her village, boiled her corpse and rubbed the flesh with her bones, sparking rumors of cannibalism. In fact, the Hawaiian natives simply believed the power and soul of a person in their bones, and boiling them is an efficient (if horrific) method of extracting meat, requiring their preservation as religious artifacts. Yes: The islanders were still quite convinced that the cooks were divine, so they treated his remains before returning them to their crew, who buried them at sea in Kelakecua Bay.