A PANORAMA OF 



rHE Museum's new Hall F, "Cultures of Polynesia and Micronesia," 

 features objects from the famed Fuller Collection acquired by the Museum 

 in 1958. Pictured are some of the outstanding pieces now on display. 



HAWAIIAN ISLANDS— In 1778 when Captain James Cook, the famous English 

 explorer, arrived in Hawaii he was thought to be a god. He was taken to a temple 

 where natives worshipped him before an altar flanked by two idols — the one pictured 

 here and its mate now in the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Following the discovery 

 of their islands by Cook, the Hawaiians were in close contact with the English. In 

 1824 King Kamehameha II and his queen paid a state visit to England. There they 

 became ill with measles, a disease unknown in the islands. This so-called "children's 

 disease" proved fatal and the visit ended in tragedy. 



A funeral ship returned the bodies of the Hawaiian 

 monarchs to their homeland in 1825. There, the ship 

 called at the place where Captain Cook had been 

 killed in a clash with natives who, if sufficiently pro- 

 voked, apparently had no compunction about killing 

 a supposed god. Nearby was a royal mausoleum filled 

 with sacred objects, among them the two altar idols. 

 Because the native religion was no longer strong, mem- 

 bers of the crew were allowed to take back to England 

 whatever they wished. The Bishop Museum idol re- 

 mained in the family of a crew member until 1924, 

 when it was returned to Hawaii. The history of the 

 Fuller idol is unknown from the date of its removal 

 from Hawaii until it was discovered in England in 1911. 



Page 2 



