Free CANNIBALS (True Crime) by Ray Black Page A

Tonga. Once again the two ships were parted when they encountered a powerful gale.
    Captain Furneaux had decided to return to England after losing some of his crew to Maori cannibals. Meanwhile Cook continued his search for the southern continent but once more encountered ice. He then charted the Easter Islands, New Hebrides, the Marquesas, discovered New Caledonia, Norfolk Islands, and Palmerston. He then went on to find the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands), and South Georgia. He returned to England in July of 1775, achieving the testing of the first reliable chronometer. The amazing thing for this era was that in three years at sea only four of his crew members were lost. A tribute to Cook’s realisation that a diet including fruit was essential, thus eliminating the problem of scurvy.
     
    F ATEFUL  J OURNEY
     
    In July of 1776 James Cook set sail on what was to be his final voyage, in search of the northwest passage from Europe to the east. On this voyage his ship the Resolution was joined by the Discovery which was commanded by Captain Charles Clerke. The two ships headed for the mid-Pacific Islands, discovering some of the Cook Islands, and also the Hawaiian islands. This was the voyage that earned Captain Cook the credit as the first westerner to discover the Hawaiian islands.
    When the two British ships sailed past O’ahu to Kaua’i in January 1778, they were met by many canoes filled with islanders who were prepared to do battle. Luckily Cook and his men had managed to pick up several words of Tahitian in an earlier trip, and being close enough to the Hawaiian dialect the natives soon realized that these men had in fact come in peace. The boats were anchored for three days in which time they gave gifts to the natives, and also took advantage of the Hawaiian women’s sexual favours. Whilst at anchor the High Chief Kaneoneo boarded the Discovery and met with the two captains before they left the island and headed for Alaska and Canada.
    Ten months later, in desperate need of provisions and a safe harbour, Captain Cook decided to return to Hawaii in the Sandwich Islands. But this was to be his last journey as the natives were celebrating victory against the neighbouring Kahekili when they arrived, and mistook the Englishmen for their great god Lono and his immortal company.
    Divine honours were offered to Cook and his crew and, strangely enough, the Captain accepted them (probably because he was prepared to accept anything that made for the success of the expedition). However, it wasn’t long before the exceedingly expensive and extravagant celebrations turned into a free-for-all. Quarrels broke out, sticks and stones were freely used, and Cook decided to sail away, much to everybody’s relief.
    However, within a week the Resolution had sprung her foremast, and they were back again. Trouble started almost immediately. One of the cutters was stolen, and Captain Cook put ashore to try and settle the matter. Natives crowded the beach, armed and excited. Stones were thrown and there was some firing. Cook turned, and as he did so was stabbed in the back and speared. He fell dead into the water.
    Captain Cook died at the age of 51 on February 14, 1779, and will always be remembered as one of the greatest Englishmen of all time.
    Just after dark on February 16, 1779, a ‘kahuna’, or holy man, rode a canoe up to the Resolution, still anchored off the coast of Hawaii. The kahuna came aboard with a bundle under his arm. Charles Clerke, the ship’s commander, unwrapped the parcel in the presence of his officers. What he found inside was a large piece of flesh which he soon saw to be human. Clerke later wrote in his journal – ‘It was clearly a part of the Thigh about 6 or 8 pounds without any bone at all.’
    Two days before this, islanders had killed five of the ship’s men on the shore of Kealakekua Bay and carried off their bodies. Nothing had been seen of the corpses and Clerke and his men presumed, following