Cook's fate

[sassa_nf]

Some comments floated up. I didn't feel like joining in in the fray.

Did Cook take Hawaiian king hostage?

https://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/we-have-lost-our-father - apparently, that was the plan

Was Cook eaten?

https://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/aftermath - the interview with the Hawaiians seems to say no, he wasn't.

Comments

[juan_gandhi]

I don't believe this new story. And the Hawaiians might as well have lied. What I read about is that the new captain received just a fried leg, that's all what was left from captain Cook.

I think the source might be this: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004895036.0001.000?rgn=main;view=fulltext

Look at pages 300-304.

It is very different from what was written in the ship log, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-517532598/view?partId=nla.obj-558521253 - I did read it in a transcript, but forgot where it was.

Another source is this: https://www.captaincooksociety.com/home/detail/225-years-ago-january-march-1779 look for "King "was for some time in the Observatory preparing to take equal Altitudes"

[sassa_nf]

Oh wow. The source I quoted did post references. I thought it was reliable. Ok, let me go through those.

[juan_gandhi]

If you could find a readable version of the ship log... the story is very different there.

[sassa_nf]

ok, the second link you posted is for a older log, ending 1770, and a different ship (Endeavour, not Resolution)

The last link also says it wasn't just a leg:

I found all his Bones excepting those of the Back, Jaw & feet

Also, it is a bit shorter on detail - it doesn't explain the thinking (how they wanted to recover the missing boat), or the events as they happened, only briefly noting the reports of the eye witnesses were confused. Whereas the quotes from another page from Captain Cook Society refer to one account written by one eye witness, probably thinking it authoritative.

I think it may be probable that they wanted to kidnap the king, as they did do that on another island in similar circumstances.

I guess preserving the bones would be understandable to the Christians who were familiar with the tradition of preserving bits of saints. So I'll assume that maybe the Hawaiians aren't lying, even though the bones being charred seems to look a bit like eucharist.

[sassa_nf]

ok, the first link is the account of Rickman, and it does speak of a design to kidnap the Hawaiian king.