The Life of Captain James Cook, the CircumnavigatorKitson, Arthur
History
The Life of Captain James Cook, the Circumnavigator
Kitson, Arthur
Cook, James, 1728-1779; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Geographers -- Great Britain -- Biography
Being afraid that some of his live stock might be stolen, Cook tried to
interest some of the chiefs in them by presenting the king with a bull
and cow and some goats; to Feenough a horse and mare, and to Mariwaggee a
ram and two ewes. Some one, however, was not satisfied, and a kid and two
turkey cocks were stolen; and as thefts had been frequent and very
daring, including an attempt to steal one of the anchors of the
Discovery, which would have been successful had not one of the flukes of
the anchor got fixed in one of the chain plates, Cook determined to put
his foot down. He seized three canoes, and, hearing Feenough and some
other chiefs were in a house together, he placed a guard over them and
informed them they would be detained till the stolen goods were returned.
They took the matter coolly, and said that everything should be returned.
Some of the things being produced, Cook invited his prisoners on board
ship to dine, and when they came back the kid and a turkey were brought,
so the prisoners and canoes were released. At one time a small hostile
demonstration was made by the natives, but the landing of a few marines
and an order from the king put an end to it.
SMART WORKMEN.
The following day Cook was invited on shore and found some natives busy
erecting two sets of poles, one on each side of the place set apart for
the guests. Each set consisted of four placed in a square about two feet
apart, secured from spreading by cross pieces, and carried up to a height
of about thirty feet, the intervening space being filled with yams. On
the top of one structure were two baked pigs, and on the other alive one,
with a second tied by its legs about half way up. Cook was particularly
struck by the way the men raised these two towers, and says if he had
ordered his sailors to do such a thing, they would have wanted carpenters
and tools and at least a hundredweight of nails, and would have taken as
many days as it did these people hours. When the erections were
completed, piles of bread-fruit and yams were heaped on either side, and
a turtle and some excellent fish were added, and then the whole was
presented to Cook.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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