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POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
a chief.' This enraged some of our people, and 
alarmed the chiefs, as they feared Captain Cook 
would kill the king. The people armed them¬ 
selves with stones, clubs, and spears. Kanona 
entreated her husband not to go. All the chiefs 
did the same. The king sat down. The Captain 
seemed agitated, and was walking towards his 
boat, when one of our men attacked him with a 
spear : he turned, and with his double-barrelled 
gun shot the man who struck him. Some of our 
people then threw stones at him, which being seen 
by his men, they fired on us* Captain Cook then 
endeavoured to stop his men from firing, but could 
not, on account of the noise. He was turning 
again to speak to us, when he was stabbed in the 
back with a pahoa; a spear was at the same time 
driven through his body ; he fell into the water, 
and spoke no more.* 
“ After he was dead, we all wailed. His bones 
were separated—the flesh was scraped off and 
* We have several times inquired, particularly of the 
natives acquainted with the circumstances, whether Cap¬ 
tain Cook was facing them, or had his back towards them, 
when he received the fatal thrust; and their answer, in 
general, has been as here stated, which accords very 
nearly with Captain King's account, who says, “ Our 
unfortunate commander, the last time he was seen dis¬ 
tinctly, was standing at the water's edge, and calling out 
to the boats to cease firing, and pull in. If it be true, as 
some of those present have imagined, that the marines and 
boatmen fired without his orders, and that he was desirous 
of preventing any further bloodshed, it is not improbable, 
that his humanity, on this occasion, proved fatal to him : 
for it was remarked, that whilst he faced the natives, none 
of them had offered him any violence, but that having 
turned about, to give his orders to the boats, he was 
stabbed in the back, and fell with his face into the water." 
See Captain King’s Continuation of Cook's Voyages, 4to. 
vol. iii. pages 45 and 46. 
