2 POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES, 
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 last, seemed in many 
respects to be the most important that had 
hitherto been made by Europeans, throughout the 
extent of the Pacific ocean.” These are the last 
words recorded in the journal of that enterprising 
and intelligent navigator: a melancholy event 
shortly afterwards occurred on the shores of this 
very bay, which arrested his career of discovery, 
and terminated his existence. 
On the return of the survivors, a detailed ac¬ 
count of the islands and their inhabitants, which 
was given to the world, excited no small degree of 
interest, not only in England, but throughout the 
continent of Europe. 
The descriptions which Captain Cook’s Voyages 
contained, of the almost primitive simplicity, 
natural vivacity, and fascinating manners, of a 
people, who had existed for ages, isolated, and 
unknown to the rest of the world, were so entirely 
new, and the accounts given of the mildness and 
salubrity of the climate, the spontaneous abun¬ 
dance of delicious fruits, and the varied and de¬ 
lightful appearance of the scenery in the Sand¬ 
wich and other islands of the Pacific, were so 
enchanting, that many individuals were led to 
imagine they were a sort of elysium, where the 
highly favoured inhabitants, free from the toil and 
care, the want and disappointment, which mar the 
happiness of civilized communities, dwelt in what 
they called a state of nature, and spent their lives 
in unrestrained enjoyment. 
These descriptions, were, I am convinced, faith¬ 
ful transcripts of the first impressions made on the 
