“Our return to this bay was as disagreeable to us as it was to the inhabitants, for we were reciprocally tired of each other…” – American explorer John Ledyard, who accompanied Captain Cook on his final voyage.
In 2022, the 14th of February is globally recognised as a date filled with love, chocolates, and candle-lit dinners. Few remember, however, that today also marks 243 years since Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii.
He discovered Australia in 1770
Captain James Cook was a British naval captain, explorer and navigator who sailed the coasts of Canada, and conducted three expeditions through the Pacific. These travels ranged from the Antarctic ice fields to the Bering Strait, the coasts of North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Cook’s most famous expedition among Australians is his landing at Kamay Botany Bay, on April 29, 1770, which led to the British colonisation of these coastlines some years later.
Final days
On 14 February 1779, Cook and his crew attempted to kidnap the ruling chief of Hawaii, Kalani’ōpu’u; an error that eventuated in his death in Kealakekua Bay. Records allege that Cook was struck and fatally stabbed in the chest by the chief with a metal dagger from his own ship, in a skirmish that marked the end of the previously excellent relations between the Hawaiian inhabitants and British sailors.
For more information about Cook’s adventures, his time in Australia, and the controversy surrounding his legacy, readers can head to the following website: https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/reimagining-captain-cook-pacific-perspectives.
Discussion about this post