"It should seem that the reign of George the Third had been reserved by the Great Disposer of all things for the glorious task of establishing the grand keystone to that expansive arch over which the arts and sciences should pass to the furthermost corners of the earth, for the instruction and happiness of the most lowly children of nature. Advantages so highly beneficial to the untutored parts of the human race, and so extremely important to that large proportion of the subjects of this empire who are brought up to the sea service deserve to be justly appreciated; and it becomes of very little importance to the bulk of our society, whose enlightened humanity teaches them to entertain a lively regard for the welfare and interest of those who engage in such adventurous undertakings for the advancement of science, or for the extension of commerce, what may be the animadversions or sarcasms of those few unenlightened minds that may peevishly demand, "what beneficial consequences, if any, have followed, or are likely to follow to the discoverers, or to the discovered, to the common interests of humanity, or to the increase of useful knowledge, from all our boasted attempts to explore the distant recesses of the globe?" The learned editor (Dr. Douglas, now Bishop of Salisbury) who has so justly anticipated this injudicious remark, has, in his very comprehensive introduction to Captain Cook's last voyage, from whence the above quotation is extracted, given to the public not only a complete and satisfactory answer to that question, but has treated every other part of the subject of discovery so ably as to render any further observations on former voyages of this description wholly unnecessary, for the purpose of bringing the reader acquainted with what had been accomplished, previously to my being honored with His Majesty's commands to follow up the labors of that illustrious navigator Captain James Cook; to whose steady, uniform, indefatigable and undiverted attention to the several objects on which the success of his enterprises ultimately depended, the world is indebted for such eminent and important benefits."
Captain George Vancouver pays, in the introduction of his report, a remarkable tribute to Captain Cook, that should become familiar to the American people, for it is one of the features of prevalent Hawaiian literature that the great navigator is much disparaged, and denounced. One of the favorite theories of the missionaries has been that Cook's death at the hands of the savages was substantially the punishment inflicted by God, because the Captain allowed himself to be celebrated and worshipped as a god by the heathen, consenting to their idolatry when he should have preached to them, as was done with so much efficiency nearly half a century later. The fact is the natives had a great deal of "religion" of their own, and defended their superstitions with skill and persistence before yielding to the great simplicities of the Christian faith. Captain Cook, it must be admitted, did not attempt to preach the gospel. The gentleness of the natives turned out to contain a great deal that was most horrible.
The closing years of the last century were those of rapid progress in the art of navigation, and Captain Vancouver gives this striking summary of testimony:
"By the introduction of nautical astronomy into marine education, we are taught to sail on the hypothenuse, instead of traversing two sides of a triangle, which was the usage in earlier times; by this means the circuitous course of all voyages from place to place is considerably shortened; and it is now become evident that sea officers of the most common rate abilities who will take the trouble of making themselves acquainted with the principles of this science, will, on all suitable occasions, with proper and correct instruments, be enabled to acquire a knowledge of their situation in the Atlantic, Indian or Pacific Oceans, with a degree of accuracy sufficient to steer on a meridianal or diagonal line, to any known spot, provided it be sufficiently conspicuous to be visible at any distance from five to ten leagues.
"This great improvement, by which the most remote parts of the terrestrial globe are brought so sasily within our reach, would nevertheless have been of comparatively little utility had not those happy means been discovered for preserving the lives and health of the officers and seamen engaged in such distant and perilous undertakings; which were so peacefully practiced by Captain Cook, the first great discoverer of this salutary system, in all his latter voyages around the globe. But in none have the effect of his wise regulations, regimen and discipline been more manifest than in the course of the expedition of which the following pages are designed to treat. To an unremitting attention, not only to food, cleanliness, ventilation, and an early administration of antiseptic provisions and medicines, but also to prevent as much as possible the chance of indisposition, by prohibiting individuals from carelessly exposing themselves to the influence of climate, or unhealthy indulgences in times of relaxation, and by relieving them from fatigue and the inclemency of the weather the moment the nature of their duty would permit them to retire, is to be ascribed the preservation of the health and lives of sea-faring people on long voyages."
"Those benefits did not long remain unnoticed by the commercial part of the British nation. Remote and distant voyages being now no longer objects of terror, enterprises were projected and carried into execution, for the purpose of establishing new and lucrative branches of commerce between Northwest America and China; and parts of the coast of the former that had not been minutely examined by Captain Cook became now the general resort of the persons thus engaged."
The special zeal and consistency with which Cook is defended by the English navigators who knew him and were competent to judge of the scope of his achievements is due in part to the venom of his assailants. The historian of the Sandwich Islands, Sheldon Dibble, says: "An impression of wonder and dread having been made, Captain Cook and his men found little difficulty in having such intercourse with the people as they chose. In regard to that intercourse, it was marked, as the world would say, with kindness and humanity. But it cannot be concealed that here and there at this time, in the form of loathsome disease, was dug the grave of the Hawaiian nation; and from so deep an odium it is to be regretted that faithful history cannot exempt even the fair name of Captain Cook himself, since it was evident that he gave countenance to the evil. The native female first presented to him was a person of some rank; her name was Lelemahoalani. Sin and death were the first commodities imported to the Sandwich Islands."
We have already quoted Captain Cook's first words on this subject. He had much more to say giving in detail difficulties rather too searching to be fully stated. As for the charge that Cook personally engaged in debauchery, it rests upon the tradition of savages, who had no more idea than wild animals of the restraint of human passion. It was debated among the islanders whether the white men should be assailed by the warriors, and it was on the advice of a native queen that the women were sent to make friends with the strangers; and this was the policy pursued. As for the decline of the natives in numbers, and the "digging the grave of the nation." the horror of the islands was the destruction of female infants, and also the habit of putting aged and helpless men and women to death. The general indictment against Captain Cook is that this amiable race was just about prepared for Christianity when he thrust himself forward as a god, and with his despotic licentiousness destroyed immediate possibilities of progress. In Sandwich Island notes by "a Haole" (that is to say, a white person) we see what may be said on the other side of the picture: "It becomes an interesting duty to examine their social, political and religious condition. The first feature that calls the attention to the past is their social condition, and a darker picture can hardly be presented to the contemplation of man. They had their frequent boxing matches on a public arena, and it was nothing uncommon to see thirty or forty left dead on the field of contest.
"As gamblers they were inveterate. The game was indulged in by every person, from the king of each island to the meanest of his subjects. The wager accompanied every scene of public amusement. They gambled away their property to the last vestige of all they possessed. They staked every article, of food, their growing crops, the dollies they wore, their lands, wives, daughters, and even the very bones of their arms and legs—to be made into fishhooks after they were dead. These steps led to the most absolute and crushing poverty.
"They had their dances, which were of such a character as not to be conceived by a civilized mind, and were accompanied by scenes which would have disgraced even Nero's revels. Nearly every night, with the gathering darkness, crowds would retire to some favorite spot, where, amid every species of sensual indulgence they would revel until the morning twilight. At such times the chiefs would lay aside their authority, and mingle with the lowest courtesan in every degree of debauchery.