138 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
natives have been our guides on different occa¬ 
sions, they have invariably conducted us to the 
same place. A number of cocoa-nut trees grow 
near the shore, and there are perforations through 
two of them, which the natives say were produced 
by the balls fired from the boats on the occasion 
of his death. 
We have never walked over these rocks without 
emotions of melancholy interest. The mind in¬ 
variably reverts to the circumstances of their dis¬ 
covery ; the satisfaction of the visitors ; the surprise 
of the natives ; the worship they paid to their dis¬ 
coverer; and the fatal catastrophe which here 
terminated his days ;* and, although in every event 
we acknowledge an overruling Providence, we 
cannot but lament the untimely end of a man 
whose discoveries contributed so much to the 
advancement of science, introduced us to an ac¬ 
quaintance with our antipodes, and led the way 
for the philosopher in his extended researches, the 
merchant in his distant commerce, and the Mis¬ 
sionary in his errand of mercy to the unenlightened 
heathen at the ends of the earth. 
* It will be gratifying to the Christian reader to know, 
that, under the auspices of the governor of the island, and 
the friendly influence of the present chief of the place, 
Naihe, and his wife Kapiolani, who are steady, intelli¬ 
gent, discreet, and one, if not both, it is hoped, pious per¬ 
sons, a Missionary station has since been formed in this 
village ; and that, on the shore of the same bay, and not far 
from the spot where this murderous affray took place, and 
where Captain Cook was killed, a school has been opened, 
and a house erected for Christian worship; and that the 
inhabitants of the neighbourhood are instructed in the 
elements of learning, and the peaceful principles of the 
Christian religion; and in their intelligence, cleanliness, 
order, industry, and good conduct, are exhibiting, in a 
most satisfactory manner, its benign effects. 
