PREFACE. 



ixiii 



knowledged on all hands, was the aggressor : nor is 

 it to be forgotten, that his avowed object in going 

 on shore on that occasion, was that of getting pos- 

 session of the person of the king, by treachery. His 

 tragical death, howev er, has throw n a veil over the 

 great fault of his character, severity ; and the world 

 has been willing to forget, that he merited his fate- 

 It has been repeated over and over again, that his 

 memory is cherished with the highest reverence and 

 affection, by the natives of the Islands in the South 

 Sea. If so, it is only another proof of that mild and 

 forgiving disposition evinced in the paragraph last 

 quoted, and furnishes an example which Christian 

 white men would do well to imitate, although 

 coming from pagan Indians. It is only, however, 

 the English, who speak of this affectionate recol- 

 lection cherished by these people, for the memory 

 of Cook. Labillardiere, and other navigators, speak 

 differently. 



In one place he says — "Many of the natives, and 

 particularly the Royal family, pronounced the name 

 of Cook with enthusiasm ; but the great severity of 

 this celebrated navigator, had prevented many 

 others from preserving such agreeable recollections 

 of him. They only spoke to us in complaints of 

 the severity of the treatment they received. In fact, 

 although he only mentions in his last voyage, one 

 man wounded by Cook in the thigh, with a musket, 

 we saw another, whose shoulder had been pierced 

 with a ball, which he assured us was fired from the 

 same hand, at Tongataboo."* 



The author has no ambition to challenge a com- 

 parison with Captain Cook, in any respect ; and 

 least of all, on the score of *' high honour and gene- 

 rosity." But it is proper to remark, in justice to 



■ Labillardiere, vol. ii. p. 



