Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-03
FLIGHT ON PACIFIC
RECALLS EXPLORER
Capt. Cooks Life Lost on
Memorable Voyage Many
Years Ago.

| geographic society recalls HOW re-
cent is our knowledge of the Pacific
Ocean.
with steamer lanes crossing the
Pacific in all directions and with
flyers now crossing large sections of
| it, 1t is hard to believe that Capt.
James Cook was opening up the Pa
cific many years after the Is colonies
had been settled" says the bulletin
This Englishman was nosing his way
along the uncharted shores of what
now are Oregon and Washington
State and British Columbia and Alas
ka while the Colonies were were fight
I ing their War of Independence
And we add another mite to our
respect for the many-sided Benjamin
! Franklin, who, at the court of Louis
XVI, suggested that our Revolution
airy ally refrain from molesting Cook
and other voyagers, whose business
on the high seas was concerned with
exploration, not war.
| "A map of the Pacific in 1868, the
| year that Cook first set sail for the
South Seas, showed very few of the
numerous island groups we know. and.
much of what it did show was wrong.
Covers Third of Globe.
IF if seems strange that oily a cen.
| fury and Il half ago most of the is
| lands that dot the Pacific were un-
| heard of in Europe, consider that this
great water body covers about one
| third the surface of the globe; it's
area is greater than all the continents
combined; its width at the Equator
| is nearly half the earths circumfer-
ence and on one occasion Cook sailed
| for III days without sighting land.
Small wonder that the Spaniards
in crossing it Rugged the parallel of
IS degrees north as they would have
chung to a life line, thus insuring
their touching the Ladrones on their
SO.day voyage to the Philippines.
THE Hawaiian Islands, the Pacific
base for the present flights, were
the last islands visited by Capt Cook
on his third voyage. for there ne met
his death.
Thought 1t Major Exploit.
1.-THE great explorer thought the ex'
pIoration of the Hawaiian group one
of his major achievemen1s. ms
friends IN England smiled induigently
at his enthusiasm about an archipela-
go so isolated.
1.-THE story of how Cook met his
death is tragic but it furnishes an in
teresting commentary on the beliefs
of the primitive island people.
LAS the Resolution, Capt. Cooks
ship, first put in at kealakekua Bay.
| Hawaii, Cook was amazed at the well
come he received. Natives lined the
shore, and more than thousand Ca
noes gathered round the ship.
His wonderment increased when he
went ashore and was conducted to a
native altar mound, where he became
the principal, though passive, figure
in an elaborate ritual.
Kava Prepared.
"At the elimination of the ceremony
| the worshipers prepared kava, pro-
| cedure that began with priests chew
| ing pieces Of coconut and rubbing
! them on the face and arms of the eX-
| plorer. The juices of this connection
| were passed around and then they fed
Cook and Capt. King, who accom-
panied him, with the flesh Of the sac
rif1cial animals.
"T had no great objection, wrote
Capt. King, to being fed by Pareea,
who was very Clearly in his person;
| but Capt. Cook, who was served by
| Koah, recollecting the putrid hog ION
lliO dltdIJ SOuld llOL S"diAOW d hlOI SNA,
| and his reluctance, as may be sup.
| posed, was not diminished when the
| old man, according to his mode of civil
| ity, had chewed it for him.
Thereafter when the visitor land.
| ed native escort accompanied him,
the people Frustrated themselves he
| fore him, and presents of provisions
We're bestowed upon both vessels far
in excess of their needs. The mon
arch of the island, upon first meeting
Cook, removed his mantle and threw
1t over the leaders shoulders.
Cook Sails Away.
Cook sailed away, unaware of the
significance of this extraordinary
hospitality. Encountering severe
gales and being unable to find a
better harbor, he returned again to
Kealakekua, to find the natives in.
different at first, and later hostile.
THE explanation of this reversal
of feeling lay in the fact that the
islanders construed Cooks first visit
as a long expected second coming of
their deity.
"Once upon time, it seemed, there
had lived a god of peace and plenty
| named Rono. This god found his
wife. the beautiful Opuna, unfaithful
to him, so he flung her over a cliff.
He mourned for a time, then left
the island. so the legend ran, with
the parting promise, I will return
in after times, on an island bearing
trees and swine and dogs
when the masts and sails of the
English vessels were sighted and
later when the animals were seen
| on board, the islanders proceeded to
do obeisance to Rono, in the person
of Capt. Cook.
Prophecy Fulfilled.
when Cook sailed away they con-
sidered the prophecy fulfilled; there
had been no mention of his third
coming, and their provisions were ex-
hausted by the lavish gifts. Even a
god can wear out his welcome.
Moreover, incidents had occurred
upon the first visit which seemed to
discredit the godlike qualities of the
visitors. One of the crew died and
Cook, unaware that he and his re-
tinue were immortal in native eyes.
buried him ashore. Then there was
the matter of the fence about the
sacred moral. The sailors were given
permission to remove the fence be-
cause of their urgent need of wood,
but they unwittingly removed images
as well. Skepticism had set in after
their first departure.
Cutter Is Stolen.
con the night of February 10, 1879.
cutter was stolen. Cook went
ashore to seize the King and hold him
as a hostage until the boat should be
returned. The King was willing
enough to come, but his people OBJ
jected, and they became so menacing
that Cook and the marines with him
retreated.
early the next morning as they
neared the water Cook turned to
signal the boat to pull in for his
party. One native struck him over
the head and, as he fell forward.