The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-02-24
RELICS Of
CAPTAIN COOK
GIFTS to Him Said to Have
Been Discovered in
St. Petersburg.


lowsky, Of the chair of political eeono
my.in the University of St. Petersburg
and the interest he is taking in I'll
display of chronological Hawaiian relic
at the Bishop Huseum, comes a stor,
barking back TO the discovery of tn
islands by Captain Cook and the ad
ventures of his men after they ha,
hurried away from these shores, Ieav
ing the body Of their Inflated com
mander behind them.
In Alexander's History, deseribins
the visit of the great eircumnavigator
occurs this paragraph, which has d
rect bearing upon the reputed reason
of the visit of the Russian professor
to Honolulu and his reasons for stay
ing here. The passage is:
i tsOn the 3rd of February .(1779). tht
day previous to the departure Of the
ships, Kalaniopuu presented Captain
Cook with an immense quantity of vege-
tables, large herd of svGne. and an
extensive collection of kapas and red
aud yellow feathers. Captain King
says: We We're astonished at the
value and magnitude of this present.
which far surpassed anything of the
kind we had seen at either the Friendly
or Society Islands. ;,
And these kapas and featherwork ar
ticles, eloaks and helmets, are said TO
have remained boxed up since they
We're placed in the hold of the Resolu-
ton that week when the outrages of
| the white strangers goaded the natives
to turn upon them until they were
brought out again to the light of day
a short time ago in ST. Petersburg,
Professor Siratlowsky having been the
man to break the kapu under which
the boxes had been apparently lying
The delicate feather work was found
to be as fresh and as well preserved
as when presented to Captain Cook by
the Hawaiian chief over one hundred
and twenty-five years ago.
Following the stabhing of their com
mander and the death of several of
the sailors that day in Kealakekua bay,
the British sailors set sail for the Are
tic, touching last at Niihau on Febru-
airy 25, 1779. From thence the vessels
proceeded to Kamachatka, and here, in
some way, the gifts of Kalaniopuu were
landed and forgotten, despite their
value. For many years they lay meg
lected at this Russian frontier port.
finally being sent to st. Petersburg,
with other historical and official mate
rial that had collected in the store,
houses of the Kamchatka garrison. In
the Capital they were still neglected,
no one taking the trouble TO open the
boxes. and see what they contained.
until their very existence in the dusty
storeroom of some government ware
house was forgotten.
The years rolled on and the third
century opened since the handing over
of the treasures to the white stranger
by the Hawaii king. Then the boxes
of sandal-wood We're brought out, the
room they occupied being needed, and
curiosity induced the knocking to pieces
of the old boxes. The value of the
contents was appreciated and the Ha-
waiian relics were turned over to the
University museum.
Now Professor Siratlowskv is here
TO consult with Professor Brigham over
the valuable find and to obtain as cor
rect history of the beautiful feather
work cloaks as possible. He has seen
those at the Bishop Museum and re-
allies fully now, if he had not before
his arrival here, the uniqueness of the
specimens of early Hawaiian handiwork |
and artistic ability that have come so
strangely into the possession of his
university.
In the collection are some duplicates, |
specimens the like of which are not to |
be found even IN the magnificent col |
lection under Professor Brigham's |
charge, and it has been arranged that
these viii be exchanged for specimens.
duplicates of which are now at the
Honolulu museum. Thus both the local
museum and that of the st. Petersburg
University viii be enriched.
The Russian professor leaves this
week for Hawaii, intending to remain
for some time on that island One of
the points he will visit, a point now
of the greatest interest to him. viii
be the beautiful cove at Kealakekua
bay where the Resolution lay at anchor
and on board of which the gifts to |
Captain Cook were made. It is prob
able, also. that he viii visit Kauai |
during his stay here and make investi- |
cations in that section of the Garden
Island seized as a military post by his !
eountrymen in 1915, the remains of
their breastworks being yet to be seen.