Captain Cook's funeral
Nov. 13th, 2007 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juan_gandhisource
"To day Captain Clerke took upon him the Command of the Resolution and appointed the first Lieut. of her, Mr Gore, to the Command of the Discovery; the 2nd Lieut of her was appointed 1st & the 3rd to be 2nd Lieut. of her. At eight o'Clock at night the 2 Sentries on the Resolutions forecastle perceived a Canoe under the Bows with two Men in her laying hold of the Cable, upon which they fired upon them, the alarm was given in the Ship of the Indians coming to attack her & all were immediately upon deck under arms. The two Indians on being discovered & fired at cryed out for Teene (as they called Mr King). Our people jumped into the Boats along side, seized the Canoe & brought the two men on board, who were much frightened & asked Mr King if they would be killed and he told them they would not as they were well known to us, both belonging to our Friend Kaireekea the Priest; one of them was he whom we called the Taboo Man as he always went in the head of Captain Cook's Pinnace holding a long stick in his hand... He had a bundle under his arm & he was carryed down into the Cabbin where he opened it, and presented to us a Spectacle that struck us with Horror; this was a large piece of human flesh, being the whole of the upper part of a Thigh with the bone taken out, it smelled strong, he told us repeatedly it was the Thigh of Capt. Cook & that he was carrying it over as a present to Cahoo from Kariopoo, & we supposed it might be intended as an Offering to their Gods. We asked him if they eat the flesh of their Enemies, this he strongly denyed; we enquired for his Head & the rest of the body, he told us that the head was beat to pieces & the body & Limbs burnt & the Bones in the possession of Kariopoo. Cahoo, who is the head priest & Chief of Ohekeaw, to whom the Taboo man belongs, does not seem on this occasion to espouse the Interest of the King but rather to favour us".
"The two Men staid on board till after nine o'Clock and then went ashore at Ohekeeaw where Cahoo resides, & a boat was sent with them past the Discovery lest the Guard boat might fire at them. On seeing them under the ship's Bows the Sentries thought they were cutting the Cable, to prevent which, as we had some Suspicion that the Indians might make the attempt, they were placed on the forecastle; the 2 shot had gone through the upper part of the Canoe but has luckily missed the 2 men in her. These two men seemed to deal upon an honest footing with us, told us that if any of us went on shore according to the desire of Coo-a-ha that the Indians would kill them, and that their shew of Friendship was intended to deceive. They expressed much fear least they should know of his having come on board with the Thigh, they said that all our people had been burnt last Night and their own buried. This Morning some of the large Canoes were taken out of the Bay, the Indians endeavouring to secure all of their Effects from falling into our Hands".
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th: "Last night Women were heard howling & crying ashore, perhaps over their deceased Husbands & Friends. This morning Captain Cook's Thigh was buried in the Sea. Coo-a-ha came again to the Resolution under a Flag of truce, wanting some of the officers to go ashore, & in the afternoon came upon the same Errand to the Discovery; as we are acquainted with the treacherous Design that this Man comes upon he owes his Life to our forbearance & humanity, which on such an occasion as this seems to be carryed to a degree almost bordering upon weakness. However be it still our praise to err on the side of Mercy rather than on that of Severity ... "
EDITOR'S NOTE: Although this log contains more detail, for the sake of space, only those entries relating to Captain Cook, or of particular interest will be shown in future.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th: "About eight o'Clock at night a man brought off some roasted bread fruit on a swimming board to the Discovery, which was bought of him; soon after two or three Canoes came loaded with the same Article, and one with Girls which were admitted to the Ship, tho' we are at open war with their Countrymen. We enquired of some of these Indians what they had done with Captain Cook's body and with those of the rest of our people; they told us that the body of Captain Cook was divided in the following manner. His head fell to the share of a Chief called Ke-koo-opeoo; his Hair to Kamehameha; his Legs, Thighs, Arms & under Jaw to Kariopoo, and the body was burnt. They told us that the King and his Attendants lived at present in some Holes in the rocks behind the Town of Kavaroa".
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20th: "Between ten & eleven o'Clock we saw a great Number of people coming down the hills in a kind of procession, every one of them carrying a Sugar Cane or two on his Shoulders & about as many breadfruit, Taroo root, or Plantains in his Hand. Two Drummers who accompanyed them sat down on the Beach by a white Flag & beat their Drums, while the Indians came one by one, laid down their Sugar Cane &c. and then retired; another party came along the Beach, in the same order, & laid down their Presents or peace offerings upon the others & then withdrew. Another white Flag with one Man sitting by it was flying about midway on the Beach. In a short time we saw Eeapo in his feathered Cloak standing on a rock waving to us for a boat to come on shore, on which Captain Clerke went to him in the Pinnace attended by the 1st Lieut. in the large Cutter. They did not land, for Eeapo attended by Taweno-ora came into the Pinnace, and a large bundle was handed in covered with a black feathered Cloak, in which was contained the remains of Captain Cook decently wrapped up in a large quantity of fine new Cloth. Eeapo did not stay long on board either Ship, but soon returned on shore with the presents that were made to him, a fine new Cloak was given to him on board the Discovery made of red Bays with a border of green. In the Afternoon the Bundle was opened on board the Resolution in the Cabbin, we found in it the following bones with some flesh upon them which had the marks of fire. The Thighs & Legs joined together but not the feet, both Arms with the Hands seperated from them, the Skull with all the bones that form the face wanting with the Scalp seperated from it, which was also in the bundle with the hair on it cut short, both Hands whole with the Skin of the fore Arms joined to them, the hands had not been in the fire, but were salted, several Gashes being cut in them to take the Salt in. Tho we had no doubt concerning the Identity of any of the parts contained in the bundle, every one must be perfectly satisfied as to that of the hands, for we all knew the right by a large Scar on it seperating for about an inch the Thumb from the fore-finger. The Ears adhered to the Scalp, which had a cut in it about an inch long, probably made by the first blow he received with the Club, but the Skull was not fractured so that it is likely that the Stroke was not mortal. Such was the Condition in which those, who looked upon Captain Cook as their father & whose great Qualities they venerated almost to adoration, were doomed to behold his Remains; what their feelings were upon the Occasion is not to be described".
"To day Captain Clerke took upon him the Command of the Resolution and appointed the first Lieut. of her, Mr Gore, to the Command of the Discovery; the 2nd Lieut of her was appointed 1st & the 3rd to be 2nd Lieut. of her. At eight o'Clock at night the 2 Sentries on the Resolutions forecastle perceived a Canoe under the Bows with two Men in her laying hold of the Cable, upon which they fired upon them, the alarm was given in the Ship of the Indians coming to attack her & all were immediately upon deck under arms. The two Indians on being discovered & fired at cryed out for Teene (as they called Mr King). Our people jumped into the Boats along side, seized the Canoe & brought the two men on board, who were much frightened & asked Mr King if they would be killed and he told them they would not as they were well known to us, both belonging to our Friend Kaireekea the Priest; one of them was he whom we called the Taboo Man as he always went in the head of Captain Cook's Pinnace holding a long stick in his hand... He had a bundle under his arm & he was carryed down into the Cabbin where he opened it, and presented to us a Spectacle that struck us with Horror; this was a large piece of human flesh, being the whole of the upper part of a Thigh with the bone taken out, it smelled strong, he told us repeatedly it was the Thigh of Capt. Cook & that he was carrying it over as a present to Cahoo from Kariopoo, & we supposed it might be intended as an Offering to their Gods. We asked him if they eat the flesh of their Enemies, this he strongly denyed; we enquired for his Head & the rest of the body, he told us that the head was beat to pieces & the body & Limbs burnt & the Bones in the possession of Kariopoo. Cahoo, who is the head priest & Chief of Ohekeaw, to whom the Taboo man belongs, does not seem on this occasion to espouse the Interest of the King but rather to favour us".
"The two Men staid on board till after nine o'Clock and then went ashore at Ohekeeaw where Cahoo resides, & a boat was sent with them past the Discovery lest the Guard boat might fire at them. On seeing them under the ship's Bows the Sentries thought they were cutting the Cable, to prevent which, as we had some Suspicion that the Indians might make the attempt, they were placed on the forecastle; the 2 shot had gone through the upper part of the Canoe but has luckily missed the 2 men in her. These two men seemed to deal upon an honest footing with us, told us that if any of us went on shore according to the desire of Coo-a-ha that the Indians would kill them, and that their shew of Friendship was intended to deceive. They expressed much fear least they should know of his having come on board with the Thigh, they said that all our people had been burnt last Night and their own buried. This Morning some of the large Canoes were taken out of the Bay, the Indians endeavouring to secure all of their Effects from falling into our Hands".
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16th: "Last night Women were heard howling & crying ashore, perhaps over their deceased Husbands & Friends. This morning Captain Cook's Thigh was buried in the Sea. Coo-a-ha came again to the Resolution under a Flag of truce, wanting some of the officers to go ashore, & in the afternoon came upon the same Errand to the Discovery; as we are acquainted with the treacherous Design that this Man comes upon he owes his Life to our forbearance & humanity, which on such an occasion as this seems to be carryed to a degree almost bordering upon weakness. However be it still our praise to err on the side of Mercy rather than on that of Severity ... "
EDITOR'S NOTE: Although this log contains more detail, for the sake of space, only those entries relating to Captain Cook, or of particular interest will be shown in future.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18th: "About eight o'Clock at night a man brought off some roasted bread fruit on a swimming board to the Discovery, which was bought of him; soon after two or three Canoes came loaded with the same Article, and one with Girls which were admitted to the Ship, tho' we are at open war with their Countrymen. We enquired of some of these Indians what they had done with Captain Cook's body and with those of the rest of our people; they told us that the body of Captain Cook was divided in the following manner. His head fell to the share of a Chief called Ke-koo-opeoo; his Hair to Kamehameha; his Legs, Thighs, Arms & under Jaw to Kariopoo, and the body was burnt. They told us that the King and his Attendants lived at present in some Holes in the rocks behind the Town of Kavaroa".
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20th: "Between ten & eleven o'Clock we saw a great Number of people coming down the hills in a kind of procession, every one of them carrying a Sugar Cane or two on his Shoulders & about as many breadfruit, Taroo root, or Plantains in his Hand. Two Drummers who accompanyed them sat down on the Beach by a white Flag & beat their Drums, while the Indians came one by one, laid down their Sugar Cane &c. and then retired; another party came along the Beach, in the same order, & laid down their Presents or peace offerings upon the others & then withdrew. Another white Flag with one Man sitting by it was flying about midway on the Beach. In a short time we saw Eeapo in his feathered Cloak standing on a rock waving to us for a boat to come on shore, on which Captain Clerke went to him in the Pinnace attended by the 1st Lieut. in the large Cutter. They did not land, for Eeapo attended by Taweno-ora came into the Pinnace, and a large bundle was handed in covered with a black feathered Cloak, in which was contained the remains of Captain Cook decently wrapped up in a large quantity of fine new Cloth. Eeapo did not stay long on board either Ship, but soon returned on shore with the presents that were made to him, a fine new Cloak was given to him on board the Discovery made of red Bays with a border of green. In the Afternoon the Bundle was opened on board the Resolution in the Cabbin, we found in it the following bones with some flesh upon them which had the marks of fire. The Thighs & Legs joined together but not the feet, both Arms with the Hands seperated from them, the Skull with all the bones that form the face wanting with the Scalp seperated from it, which was also in the bundle with the hair on it cut short, both Hands whole with the Skin of the fore Arms joined to them, the hands had not been in the fire, but were salted, several Gashes being cut in them to take the Salt in. Tho we had no doubt concerning the Identity of any of the parts contained in the bundle, every one must be perfectly satisfied as to that of the hands, for we all knew the right by a large Scar on it seperating for about an inch the Thumb from the fore-finger. The Ears adhered to the Scalp, which had a cut in it about an inch long, probably made by the first blow he received with the Club, but the Skull was not fractured so that it is likely that the Stroke was not mortal. Such was the Condition in which those, who looked upon Captain Cook as their father & whose great Qualities they venerated almost to adoration, were doomed to behold his Remains; what their feelings were upon the Occasion is not to be described".
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Date: 2007-11-14 05:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 07:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-14 03:54 pm (UTC)http://www.captaincooksociety.com/ccsu41126.htm