ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 279 



who visited the island several years since, not only took speci- 

 mens of the rock, but the whole ship's company knelt upon it, 

 and offered up a prayer for the repose of the hero's soul. 



There is perhaps no one unfortunate circumstance connected 

 with foreigners, that has ever occurred here, which the natives 

 of these islands so deeply regret, as the death of Cook. They 

 all speak of it as a lamentable event, and some of the elder of 

 them are said even to shed tears when the subject is mentioned. 

 They have canonized him, and he is universally known by the 

 title of" Olono,^^ a particular deity. 



18th. — This morning I met Mr. Forbes, the missionary of this 

 station, at the lower village, and after delivering to hirn a letter 

 from Mr. Dieill, accompanied him to his house on the hill, a dis- 

 tance of three miles. At about one mile from the shore on the 

 hill is a monument, erected in 1825 by Lord Byron, Captain of 

 his Britannic majesty's frigate " Blond," to the memory of Captain 

 Cook. It consists of a simple wall of lava about five feet high, 

 embracing a square of twenty feet, in the centre of which is a 

 cedar post, twelve feet in height, and near the top a copper 

 plate, with this inscription : 



" In memory 



of 



Captain James Cook, R. N., 



Who discovered these Islands, 



in the year of our Lord, 



1778. 



This humble monument is erected 



by his fellow countrymen, 



in the year of our Lord, 



1825." 



This post is completely covered with the initials of persons 

 who have from time to time visited the spot, chiefly the masters. 



