March, 1953 
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST 
Captain Cook's Tortoise 
Through the kindness of the 
Director of the S.A. Museum, the 
following notes on the above sub- 
ject are made possible. The letters 
are self-explanatory. 
20th December, 1951. 
The British Agent and Consul, 
TONGA, POLYNESIA. 
Dear Sir, 
Dr. ). B. Cleland, Emeritus Professor 
of Pathology, at the University of Ade- 
laide, has drawn my attention to an 
article in “The Lancet” for 4th August, 
J951, by W. R. Thrower. 
On page 219 the author makes the 
following statement apropos of Cook’s 
third voyage, 1776-1779, “In Tonga the 
ships received a royal welcome, and 
among the presents given to the king was 
a tortoise, which is* alive to this day! 
It seems remarkable to us that taking all 
circumstances into consideration this tor- 
toise should be alive after such a long 
lapse of time. Any information, which 
you may be good enough to supply, 
would be much appreciated. 
Yours faithfully, 
(Sgd.) HERBERT M. HALE, 
(Museum Director). 
H.B.M.’s Agency and Consulate, 
TONGA. 
June 27, 1952. 
Sir, 
I have the honour to acknowledge the 
receipt of your letter dated the 20th 
December, 1951, on the subject of Cap- 
tain Cook’s tortoise, and in reply, to 
record hereunder for your information, 
an extract from a letter written by 
H.R.H. Tungi on this subject: — 
“With regard to Tu’imalila the Tor- 
toise, I cannot say offhand whether 
Cook mentions in his voyages the occa- 
sion in which he gave the tortoise to 
the Tu’i Tonga or Sacred King of 
Tonga. However, reliable oral tradi- 
tions say the tortoise was given by 
Cook to the reigning Tu’i Tonga whose 
compound was named Malila. 1 he 
name Tu’imalila means King of the 
Malila. The tortoise being a valued 
gift, was given this name. Circumstan- 
tial evidence points to the reliability of 
this tradition. In the first place, the 
species is not indigenous to Tonga. 
Secondly, Tongan oral tradition is 
fairlv reliable concerning the names of 
early Navigators and Discoverers and 
the tortoise has not at any time been 
connected with the name of anyone ex- 
cept Cook or Tute as the Tonga ns 
called him The T and K sounds were 
often interchangeable in Polynesian 
speech e.g. present-day Samoan. This 
tortoise is still verv much alive today.” 
I have the honour to be. Sir, 
Your obedient servant, 
— J. E. WINDRUM, 
(H.B.M.’s Agent and 
Consul). 
everlasting in full bloom), and a coastal 
type of Ixoclia achilleoides. 
A stroll on the beach in the evening, 
never failed to provide some splendid 
entertainment for nature lovers. Being 
mid-summer, the sunset over the sea was 
;i never-failing delight, but the moon-rise 
was even more magnificent. The con- 
stantly changing shades of pink and gold, 
in sky and sea resultant from the rising 
of the full moon, was something to watch 
for a long time, and to decide that it 
alone, was worth the bus fare down, to 
witness. 
At the same hour, the cormorants made 
their spectacular retirement to bed pre- 
ceded by an exhibition of aeronautics 
over the sea. till one bird, flving off to 
the roosting tree, was followed bv the 
remainder of the flock, a small group at 
a time, leaving an empty sky for the 
spectators on the beach. A tall, dead 
Casuarina was their roosting place, and 
was the scene of much commotion, until 
each bird had found its own spot to 
sleep. 1 crept nearer for a closer view 
of this extraordinary sight of a huge tree, 
bearing only a large number of dark, 
oval -shaped objects, when a snapping 
twig beneath my feet breaking the silence, 
about seventy heads on long white necks 
were thrust out towards me. hut being 
assured of no further disturbance, were 
one by one, telescoped back into normal 
position for sleep. I had witnessed a mar- 
vellous “show”, and slipping away (in 
silence, this time) I thought: “This alone, 
is worth the fare home”. H. M. Stockham 
