CAPTAIN COOK'S LAST DAYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2815, 26 February 1908, Page 78

CAPTAIN COOK'S LAST DAYS.

A NEW DOCUMENT.— PETTY OFFICER'S DIARY.

The journal of John Law, petty officer on the Discovery, has recently been presented by one oi his descendants, Mr O. Q. Lawrence Law, to the British Museum. It begins at the time when Cook reached the Sandwich bland* — noyr known as the Hawaiian group,— and it> chronicles the day-to-dw-«v©ftt» wluefa l«l up to the great navimWs &»&-. Tha important part of tie |««*^. » covered lasted from JaftSSSJr *? *» **tonkary 14, 1779 (wheft Qcxk mtu teste*k to»§ the diary also ree®Hl% vcs«ge ww*k*tt* of snbeequWit date, !ft ¥*ewi*%* *»d additiaa« t© C©ofe v * ©fteft^tetfehfed journals, ami in eevferal «&tdAt b*cwtaphtes (some of wceut dtate), tW »t<s*y <« the tragedy has already been told with adequate fulness. TertiwKJtty eivi&tt at tbe time has been amplified with «v«tenee since collected. Law's diary tells little that is new, and as a narrative of the events it deals with it Js necessarily imperfect. Still, hi* notes have undoubted value. Every scrap of contemporary writing concerning Cook that can be found is worth cherishing, and each MS. that comes 'to light serves to reawaken interest in a never-to-be-for-gotten story. Read side by side with the

excellent account given of Cook's last days by Captain Wharton, in his preface to "Cook's Journal" (first voyage), published by Eliot and Stock in 1893, Law's story comes in handy as the testimony of an eye-witness jotting down wbat he has to say frankly and freely. The first thing to be noticed in all o]d diaries is the variable spelling of local names. Law has his way of reproducing Hawaiian sounds, just as Cook had his ; and few of the spellings of 130 years ago satisfy the historigrapfee> of to-day. The discrepancies between Law and - Cook therefore are bardly worth indicating. Cook made the Hawaiian group in January, 1779, but did .not bring his ships— the Discovery and Resolution — to anchor in Kealakekua <or Karakokoo) Bay, Owhyhee (Hawaii), till the 17th. The natives, ! prompted by the priests, welcomed them as the supposed reincarnation of their hero, Rono, whom they had deified. An old prophecy promised them that he would Teappear, and when Cook came on the scene they received him. with divine honouis, offering to him the worship which they had hitherto given to Rono. The only natives who had their doubts were certain warrior chiefs, who felt jealous of the attention lavished on. the strange visitor. Teirapu (or Kerre-aboo, according to I*aw), the King, was not on the spot when Coek'* ships ' appeared, but he reached Kealakekua soon afterwards, and approved of the demonstrations whicb had been held. Ceremonious visits were interchanged by king and captain. Cook prolonged his stay for 18 days — as it turned! out, a little too long — for the natives feund his requisitions in the shape of live stock and vegetable produce a strain on their resources. They showed a wish for the strangers to take their leave, and the sceptical chiefs chose this as the time for hinting doubts as to Oook's identity witfc I*e long-lost hero. Cook, who stayed only as long as it was necessary for the good of his crews and ships, eventually put out to sea on February 4, but unfortunately in a gale which he fell in witk «oon after leaving, the Resolution sprung her foremast, and the shios had to return to port, which they re-entered on February 11. A changed state of things was met with. The kinj had put the place under tabu and' departed; and the people left behind showed unwillingness to Tesume pleasant relations. Still the priests w^e friendly, and Piju-eea, a young chief, offered to supply any wants which Cook might specify. Ere lo&z the natives, plying to and fro in their canoes, became unbear- • ably troublesome. Though they were presented as much" as possible from boarding the ships, they found opportunities of stealing portable articles—Cook's keys at one time, and part of the ship's railing at another, or a. pair -of tongs from the forge, and a chisel from the carpenter's bench. -"Pareea rendered help when he could in pursuing runaway canoes and in recovering lost property. At last, when some of the most venturesome were detected stripping copper off the ship's side, and one of the Discovery's boats was found' to have been taken after dark, Captain Cook was forced to action. First of all, he blocked the entrance to the harbour to present the escape of the canoes, and then, in accordance with his previous^ policy, he decided on, taking the King (now returned to his quarters) into custody, along with some of the leading men, to hold them as hostages for the good behaviour of the people till the repairs of the Resolution had been completed and -the ships ready to depart. ; This is a suitable opportunity for letting Law's diary speak for itself : — • ".As eoan as tt& Landed, which wa« with a Body of 9 Marines, he went up to the King's Honse, and asked Mm to go on board, which the latter very readily agreed to. The People on shore were alarmed at C.J.C. (Cook) coming with such a Body to invite Kerre-Oboo on board, and, I tho' the Old King had got down t-o the Beach, They prevailed upon him to go ! back, telling him we wanted to hurt him. , One .of his Children stayed in the Pinnace, J waiting for his Father a long time, till h« was afraid. While Kerre-Oboo was hesitating whether he should .go on board or etay, a man more- officious than the Test in getting him back to his House •was exceedingly saucy, and behaved in a very insolent manner to C.J.C, who gave him a Load of small shot. At this the native took no kind of notice, bat laughed, and threw stones, Trhich so enraged the , aptain that lie shot Mm Dead with aj Ball (having a Double Barrel'd Gun). This accident happened, aiade th€ natives piepare with their Baggers and Spears to revenge the Death of the man, who, I. believe, was an Areen, and, bad C.J.C. come down to the boats Directly he was advised, it most probably would have hindered some Bloodshed." Law continues: — "He wrongly thought, as he said, that the flash of a musquet would disperse the whole island. Led on j by these ideas, he hearkened to no advicetill it was too late. When he got down j to the beach a man came behind Mm, j and knocked him down with a club on his knees. He immediately got up, and rashly went alone into the Middle of t-h& Crowd, following the man, who he beat ■with the Butt End of his Piece. He «- j turned, and was standing on the rocks, when another came behind aim and " stabbed him in the small of the Back, which threw him into the water, not being able "tc swim. The rabble, seeing this, rushed on with great eagerness to theMarines, and killed 4 — the other five, 1 firing a-way their shot/ were forced to - ( swim off to the boats, leaving their Arms behind them. The Natives pulled C.J.C. ! up on shore. Dashed his ksad against tho Rocks, stabbed him in different places, j tho' at the same time Our People were , firing at them from the boats. Out ot ( the five Marines that swam off, *2 were : •unhurt; the Lieutenant received a slight [ wound, either with a stone or Dagger, in; the shoulder ; the Serient two, one on tlie^ thi%h and another in thf head. Tb» Last ~

was a private, • who could not swim ; besides having a fractured skull, would have sunk had not the Lieutenant jumped out of th» boat and .saved Mm. " It seems the Natives were not Ignorant of our intentions, as while tiie old King was hesitating whether ke would go on board or stay, a man made an offer to stab the Lieutenant of Marines with sn. Iron Spike, at which the Latter, by C.J.C. orders, only pushed Mm back. After the Death of C.J.C. it was with great Difficulty that the Pinnace got off shore, as the Natives there were so tMck about them as to snatch their arms from them. The Corporal of Marines, who was one of their killed, was beat into the water up to his neck (not being able to swim*, and ' then discharged Ms piece. The Indians, rushing on him, hauling him up on the rocks, neck- and heels, and dashing his head against the stones. " These People seemed to take great Pains Id Mding their slain, as there wis not a Dead Man to be seen lying on the shore, tho 1 the Musquets from the boats must have done much -execution. At the same time, the Great Guns were firing from the ships, which one -would! have supposed might intimidate theni, as the echoing under the High Land made a terrible noise ; but it -did. not stop them, as they fought with surprising resolution, and were quite desperate, snatching each other's Iron Spikes on purpose to have the satisfaction of mangling our poor and unhappy shipmates, . who they Neck and Heels up on the rocks, and more particularly enrag-ed against C.J.C, who they crowded round in such a manneT that, before one Man had stabbed hind', anotbe* would enA-tch the spike out of the Dead body, and. grre it a fresh wound. After tMs shocking scene of slaughter was ended the boats returned to the ships with the loss of a stand of arms and a double Barrel'd piece:"