THE SANDWICH ISLANDS 243 



sound the depth of water in the harbour, a num- 

 ber of canoes, estimated by Cook at over a thou- 

 sand, surrounded the vessels. The islanders 

 were unarmed, and had come with the intention 

 of bartering. One of them took the opportunity 

 of stealing a boat's rudder, and several others 

 who had come on board proved that honesty was 

 certainly not a characteristic of this race. 



At eleven o'clock in the morning the Resolu- 

 tion and Discovery anchored in the bay, which 

 the natives called Karakaooka. The number of 

 canoes increased, and the shore was covered with 

 spectators. Hundreds of natives swam round 

 the ships. "We could not but be struck with the 

 singularity of this scene," wrote Cook, "and per- 

 haps there were few on board who now lamented 

 our having failed in our endeavour to find a 

 Northern passage homeward, last summer. To 

 this disappointment, we owed our having it in 

 our power to revisit the Sandwich Islands, and 

 to enrich our voyage, with a discovery which, 

 though the last, seemed, in many respects, to be 

 the most important that had hitherto been made 

 by Europeans, throughout the extent of the Pa- 

 cific Ocean." 



These words, full of enthusiasm and hope, 

 were to be the last written by Captain Cook. 

 This new land in which his heart exulted, this 



