No one could have any doubt about it. The Hawaiians complained of the disease and asked for help; they even came aboard for that purpose, wrote Samwell, and they were examined and treated by the ships' surgeons (probably with mercury ointment). "They had a Clap, their Penis was much swell'd, & inflamed," wrote King in utter dismay and humiliation. Then followed agitated discussions about how the Hawaiians could have contracted the disease. Considering the long distance of some two hundred miles by canoe from "Atouai," or Kauai, the interval of scarcely ten months since the ships were there, and all the precautions that Cook had undertaken to prevent meddling, it was absolutely incredible to find venereal disease on the first day back and apparently such a horrible form of it at that. The officers would have been happier if they could have convinced themselves that somehow Resolution and Discovery had not really brought the disease; there was some vain talk that the islands had always had it, or maybe the Spaniards were at fault. But Cook believed from the start what was finally admitted among the officers, Samwell possibly excepted, that the damage was done at Kauai; in fact, the infection probably went ashore at the Niihau landing. To make matters worse, the Hawaiians heaped the biblical coals of fire down on the quarterdeck by not blaming Cook and his officers.2
Finding a strong current to windward, Cook decided to ply in that direction, intending to follow the east coast of Maui and beyond, and accompanied by Hawaiians who came out every day in canoes to trade food for iron. In the evening of November 30 the island of Hawa'i came into view. Everything in the behavior of the islanders in the canoes, said King, showed "that they have not seen such sights exhibited to them as we are." The mariners might have said the same thing when they watched a double canoe gliding alongside bringing someone they were given to understand was a great chief. He made a striking appearance as he climbed aboard, his head partially shaved and tattooed, a beautifully-wrought headpiece of red and black feathers, a feathered cloak which he presented to Cook, and a good-natured smile. About fifty or sixty years of age, this impressive soul seemed to radiate good cheer despite his physical infirmities--sore eyes, nervous tic, and scaly skin--which King attributed to excessive kava drinking. King's suspicion of heavy drinking might have been correct; preparing and drinking this non-alcoholic beverage, which is made from the root of the pepper plant (Piper methysticum), was an all-important part of the rituals and ceremonies in which Hawaiian dignitaries were regular participants.
Cook heard the name "Taire-eaboo" for this particular chief, but apparently did not realize at first who this imposing man was. The journal keepers always did their best at spelling his name, which appears variously as "Kariopoo" and "Teereeoboo." This important chief was Kalani'op'u, the king of the island of Hawa'i, and he would appear prominently in the events to come. His bodyguard and attendants were dressed in red and yellow-feathered cloaks which trailed on the ground, and they wore daggers of extremely hard wood; one of the attendants wore two painted skewers of iron. The daggers were scarcely noticed, although everyone could only wonder where the Hawaiians obtained the iron. The day would come when those daggers would be remembered.3
According to tradition, the young man named Kamehameha, who became, in 1782, the first king of all the Hawaiian islands, accom-panied Kalani'opu on that first visit.4 The excitement did not prevent Cook and King from collecting fourteen sets of observations of the Moon, Sun, and Aldebaran. That evening the island of "O'why'he" came into view.
November crept into December. The ships plied off the northeast coast of Hawa'i. When white flags, very likely as emblems of peace, appeared at seaside, the ships promptly raised the British jack. The market procedure functioned smoothly, to Cook's complete delight. And, for all of the first ten days in Hawaiian waters, even his orders about the girls were obeyed; when they scrambled up the sides they were pushed off again. "We could not as yet conveniently admit them into the Ships," wrote Samwell, who was not alone in biding his time. The girls did not take kindly to the refusals. "They ought rather to have commended us," King observed, sardonically, "& would have if they knew the principle that actuated us or were aware of the bad consequences that would follow from their kindness." The good-natured Hawaiians were happy and pleased to see the ships moving along their shores. Frequently they tied their sailing canoes to the stern while they visited top-side, and sometimes a dozen or more men lived aboard for several days at a time.5
But none of the officers could ever forget that venereal disease was among their twelve guests. On December 1 three of them were found to have it. King wrote a vivid clinical description of what venereal disease was like in the eighteenth century:
in one of them it had broke out in the Groin, & in some parts seemd heald, but in other places the Morbid matter was issuing out, this person had an emaciated countenance, haggard eyes, & it was a pain to him to drag along his body.
Despite their afflictions, all three of the infected persons were cheerful; only with difficulty could they be persuaded to accept treatment from the ship's surgeon. Nor did they harbor any grudge.6
On market days two small boats, each with someone who was in charge of the buying, were rowed out to meet the canoes, which were kept at a distance. At other times, only one or two canoes were allowed alongside at a time to engage to bargain for iron; when finished they would paddle off with information about prices. Occasionally this smooth efficiency broke down when impatient Hawaiians swam directly to the ships with pigs and breadfruit on their heads, or a swimmer would have his produce snatched away by one of his countrymen who was rather too eager for iron. Cook would sail in close for a day of trading, then put off again for several days until the food was eaten; though irksome to the crew with the pleasant northeast shore of Hawai'i in sight, the policy maintained a flow of fresh food and prevented inflation.
An eclipse of the Moon on December 4 meant a stimulating diversion for Cook and King. Immediately after the eclipse they measured the angular distance of each limb from Pollux and Arietis. But the sailors wanted to go ashore. Everyone gazed with longing beyond the rugged coastline to the cultivated fields, the deep glens, and the beautiful snow-capped mountain (probably Mauna Kea) dominating the whole. King, aching for knowledge, had to content himself with asking the Hawaiian visitors about their islands and, as best he could, describing the pleasant landscape just beyond reach.7
The for'ard hands on Resolution even sent Cook a letter of protest, a kind of report from the fo'cs'le, as it were, which was written by Midshipman Watts. Cook did not appreciate this initiative. For one thing, they complained that they were not getting enough to eat, and here were all these canoes bearing fresh food. And for another, they said this sugar cane beer of his was not good for them. He called the men aft and had it out. This was the first time Cook had heard anything about any shortage, he said, but since there was no lack of fresh food, they would have more to eat at once, and he would have increased the rations promptly if he had heard the complaint earlier. In view of Cook's meticulous attention to the diet of his sailors, it is astonishing to find him not knowing whether they had enough to eat! As for the sugar cane beer, he was surprised by their allegation that it was not good for them, since some of them were stealing sugar cane right and left and eating it raw. If they did not like his new beer, they did not have to drink it, but they would not drink grog either; they could make do with water, the ship had enough of that, and they would have twenty-four hours to decide.8
Where Cook's troubles with his crew would end he had no idea. Naturally the obstreperous sailors chose the water, whereupon he had the grog supply locked up on both ships "that I might not be disappointed in my view," he explained, drily. The commotion did end, as it had to, for Cook was determined to save the dwindling supply of grog and to keep his crew healthy, and that was that. But matters could not have been improved when he had a sailor punished with twelve lashes for draining the cask of sugar cane beer. In the dismal sequel Cook called the crew together for another lecture, and, according to the version scribbled down by midshipman Watts, let them know he thought their letter was "a very Mutinous Proceeding" and henceforth they need not "expect the least indulgence from him." This third such incident in only a few months marked a serious disruption of the accustomed harmony between Cook and his men.
Cook was plaintive and defensive.9
Every innovation whatever tho ever so much to their advantage is sure to meet with the highest disapprobation from Seaman, Portable Soup and Sour Krout were at first both condemned by them as stuff not fit for human being[s] to eat. Few men have introduced into their Ships more novelties in the way of victuals and drink than I have done; indeed few men have had the same opportunity or been driven to the same necessity. It has however in a great measure been owing to such little innovations that I have always kept my people generally speaking free from that dreadful distemper the Scurvy.
Two things stand out in this significant though melancholy passage: Cook's grim resolve to keep his sailors healthy despite their unruly behavior, and his inability that late in the voyage to obtain their willing cooperation on so important a question as their own health. This incident contrasts sharply with his introduction of sauerkraut, early on the Endeavour voyage, and his suspension of grog at Tahiti the previous year (in 1777), when on both occasions he was able to obtain willing and even eager cooperation. An even more striking contrast here was his astonishing admission that he did not know what food rations his crewmen were being served.
If only his sailors would understand him, Cook must have felt. They might have understood him if he had taken them into his confidence. In the grog incident of the previous year he had gone to considerable lengths to explain that he wanted to be sure they would have a full supply in the cold latitudes; his suggestion of coconut juice as a substitute while they were in the Society Islands had brought quick agreement. On the other hand, they might have been uncooperative no matter what he said. Many of them would oppose anything new and different just to be contrary, especially when the innovation was good for them. At any rate, in the waters off the northeast coast of Hawai'i, Cook was not disposed to confide. As for the sailors, most of them had their lives ahead of them; they did not yet realize how well, on the whole, they were being looked after.
Cook's troubles rose in a crescendo. About that time he must have given up his attempt to keep girls out of the ships, for on the same day he was berating his crew, girls came aboard Discovery for the first time. We find William Ellis, surgeon's second mate, saying that "it was out of our power to leave them in a worse state than we found them." Samwell, for his part, was scarcely helping Clerke maintain discipline; he busied himself passing out bracelets to the girls who came aboard. A few days after the sugar cane uproar, which subsided to everyone's dissatisfaction, Resolution sprung another leak, right in her bottom. This accident required the laborious fothering procedure whereby a net carrying oakum was slung over the side and pulled under the ship, so that water pressure would force the tar-soaked fibers inward and thereby plug the leak.10
As usual, Cook was able to rely on his seamen to execute split-second commands in this emergency, despite all the arguments they were having with one another. They considered themselves to be highly skilled professionals, which they were; they were willing to give their last breath to a ship worth saving; Resolution was that; and they responded magnificently because the ship was ably commanded; they knew she was. We may assume as well that the sailors took a certain pride in the leaky thing. They were quite a bunch, those crews. The first smell of land might have knocked them off their balance more than it did. Fractious and hot-headed they could be, but they poured out an incredible amount of hard labor during those years, and in every hour of crisis they held firm. Resolution very nearly threw herself on Cape Kumakahi, but Cook was able to put the land astern--consummate seamanship again--with torn sails and loose stays screaming in the wind.11
Clerke suffered similar troubles with the upper works of Discovery, where something or other was giving way all the time, requiring constant knotting, splicing, and stitching just to keep her under a rag or two of canvas. These troubles really began before the voyage with the appalling refitting of the ships at the Deptford navy yard. Cook's utter disgust with the condition of the ships, especially the sails and rigging, intensified. He poured out his feelings in a vehement statement that amounted to a scathing indictment of navy shipyards in general--shoddy workmanship, poor materials, corrupt practices.
Nor are the cordage and canvas or indeed hardly any other stores made use of in the Navy, of equal goodness with those in general use in the Merchant Service, of this I had incontestable proof last voyage.
He neglected to admit that, before leaving the Thames, he had not troubled himself to give the refitting a good looking-over and to insist that it be done properly. Lord Palliser of the Admiralty was to take the long outburst in Cook's journal as a personal criticism, for he was in charge of the navy shipyards where the refitting was done.12
When any one of us sees a handsome Girl in a Canoe that he has a mind to, upon waving his Hand to her she immediately jumps overboard & swims to the Ship, where we receive her in our arms like another Venus just rising from the Waves; both Men & Women come on board the ships in great Numbers and during the whole time of trafficking with them it is nothing but one Scene of Noise & Confusion on board the Ships & all round them.
On January 5 Cook watched ruefully as throngs of "hogs and women" came offshore in canoes. "It was not possible to keep the latter out of the Ship and no women I ever met with were more ready to bestow their favours." The next day Resolution and Discovery found each other again, to the intense relief of everyone. Both ships were scarcely seaworthy; besides the tattered cordage and sails on each of them, the consort, said James Burney, had become so leaky that washing the decks had been discontinued.14 On the 9th Cook stood in toward shore in order to rid his flagship of ten women. At daybreak on the 16th, seeing an open bay ahead on the southwest corner of Hawai'i, he sent ahead Bligh, the ship's master, to reconnoiter for a possible landing.