Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks | Page 2

August 3, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Barque Flora

Francis Allyn Olmsted took a voyage to Hawai‘i, to which he noted, “During the latter part of my collegiate course, my health became very much impaired by a chronic debility of the nervous system, and soon after graduating, the cold air of Autumn admonished me to seek a milder clime for spending the winter.”

“While deliberating upon what would be most desirable in accomplishing the purposes I had in view, a favorable opportunity was offered me to go out as passenger in the whale-ship ‘North America,’ which was fitting out at New-London for a voyage to the Pacific.” (Olmstead)

He sailed as a passenger on the whale-ship ‘North America,’ that sailed from New-London, Connecticut, leaving on October 11, 1839 and arriving at O‘ahu on May 22, 1840, “having sailed more than five thousand miles in a leaky ship, with the pumps going night and day.”

After spending a little over 3-months in the Islands, on August 3, 1840, Olmstead, “bade a long adieu to many kind friends at Honolulu, and established myself in my quarters aboard the barque ‘Flora,’ Captain Spring, bound for New York.” (Olmstead)

“The Flora, is a barque of about two hundred and ninety-three tons burden, nearly a hundred tons smaller than the ‘North America’, and in many other respects is her inferior. She is a merchant vessel, and arrived at Honolulu a short time since, with stores for the Exploring Expedition (Wilkes Expedition).”

“The Flora, is chartered by one of the mercantile houses at Honolulu, and is principally freighted with sugar and molasses, novel exports from the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, a distance of eighteen thousand miles. …”

“The cabin of the Flora is very small, having three state-rooms, one of which belonging to the captain is the only one whose dimensions were intended, for comfort.”

“As the other two are situated upon each quarter of the ship, they are conformed to the shape of the vessel, and are somewhat triangular in their outlines, which renders them very inconvenient; for with the large sea chest I am obliged to admit into mine, there is hardly room enough left to stand up securely.”

“There are twenty passengers in all, who, with the exception of two or three that are to be left at the Society Islands, are to constitute a community by ourselves for many a month, while roving the ocean, in the long voyage to our native land. …” (Olmstead)

Among the passengers were Hiram and Sybil Bingham (and family); Mrs Lucy Thurston and children; and Caroline Armstrong, 9-year-old daughter of missionaries Richard and Clarissa Armstrong).

“The character of the passengers, gives the fairest promises of a happy and profitable voyage. Mr. and Mrs. Bingham, after a residence of twenty years at these remote isles of the sea, during which, amid toils and privations of which we have no adequate conception …”

“… they have seen the christian religion established among a race of idolaters, and have given permanency to a language existing but from generation to generation, have now embarked with their family of three young children, to revisit the land of their fathers, for the recovery of their health …”

“… and then to return again to these islands, after bidding farewell forever to their children, and committing them to the care of a benevolent public.”

“The tide of contending emotions that agitate their hearts can only be imagined. With the thousand perplexities and cares attendant upon making preparation for so long a voyage …”

“… and in separating themselves perhaps forever from a people that had grown up under their instruction, and to whom they had become tenderly attached, they were almost exhausted, and it seemed like a renewal of that depressing sorrow that attended their departure from their native land.”

“The poor natives accompanied them in crowds as they came down to the ship, and thronged the dock, with sorrow depicted in their countenances.”

“Soon the voice of wailing, which had been heard from one or two, became general, and a note of wild lamentation burst forth in a deafening chorus, until by the efforts of two or three of the missionaries, the sorrow of the people was restrained to a more quiet demonstration of their grief.”

“I could not but admire the heroic fortitude with which Mrs. Thurston tore herself away from her affectionate husband, to voyage with her family, consisting of two sons and three daughters, to a far distant country, which had almost become a foreign land, after an exile of twenty years.”

“Poor Mr. Thurston! When he returns to his home upon the rocky shore of Hawaii, how heavily must the lonesome hours pass by, which are no longer enlivened by the presence of his beloved family.”

“There are a father and mother too, who with bursting hearts, commit their little daughter (Caroline Armstrong), of only nine years of age, to the care of Mrs. Bingham, to be borne far away from their presence to a land of strangers.” (Olmstead)

Caroline Armstrong, looking at her father on the shore, the distance between them widening every moment … “Oh, father, dear father, do take me back!” (Judd)

Her plea echoed in the hearts of the community. In June of that year the mission voted to establish a school for the missionary children at Punahou. (Emanuel)

“Such are some of the heart-rending scenes that are often exhibited in the missionaries’ rife, who not only exile themselves from all they hold dear in their native land, but are ready to sunder every tie of affection, if required by a sense of duty.” (Olmstead)

“We stood alone in thus making the experiment of retaining children on heathen ground. At this time, when the mission was in its twentieth year, more than forty missionaries’ children have been conveyed away by parents, that have retired from this field of labor.”

“Eighteen have been scattered about in the fatherland without parents.” (Lucy Thurston) She was on the trip with her children to provide them with educational opportunities.

“Divine Providence seemed to indicate that one or both of the ordained pioneers of the mission should leave the ground temporarily, at least, though both could not well be spared at once.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Thurston, who thought it their duty to convey their children to the United States, myself, and Mrs. B., with health much impaired had permission to visit our native land. Mrs. B. was too much worn out to go without her husband.”

“Mr. T. chose to stand at his post at Kailua, and send his family with mine, and trusted the arrangement for their children with Mrs. T., the Board, and private friends. Mr. Armstrong took my post at Honolulu.” (Hiram Bingham)

They first headed to Tahiti, then headed to Cap Horn – Friday, January 1, 1841. Land ho! At four bells in the forenoon watch, the dim outline of the coast of South America, was just discernible through the gloom resting upon it, the first sight of terra-firma that has greeted our eyes since leaving Tahiti, a period of three months.”

Then, Wednesday, February 3. At daylight, this morning, the low outline of the coast of the United States, was seen stretching along to the westward of us, not more than ten or twelve miles off. … (February 4, 1841) we came to anchor off Sandy Hook, in six months from the Sandwich Islands.” (Olmstead) (Image shows the North America.)

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North America

July 20, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Outrage – Missionaries, Merchants and Whalers

Edmond Gardner, captain of the New Bedford whaler Balaena (also called Balena,) and Elisha Folger, captain of the Nantucket whaler Equator, made history in 1819 when they became the first American whalers to visit the Sandwich Islands (Hawai‘i.)

A year later, Captain Joseph Allen discovered large concentrations of sperm whales off the coast of Japan. His find was widely publicized in New England, setting off an exodus of whalers to this area.

These ships might have sought provisions in Japan, except that Japanese ports were closed to foreign ships. So when Captain Allen befriended the missionaries at Honolulu and Lahaina, he helped establish these areas as the major ports of call for whalers. (NPS)

At that time, whale products were in high demand; whale oil was used for heating, lamps and in industrial machinery; whale bone was used in corsets, skirt hoops, umbrellas and buggy whips.

In Hawaiʻi, several hundred whaling ships might call in season, each with 20 to 30 men aboard and each desiring to resupply with enough food for another tour ‘on Japan,’ ‘on the Northwest,’ or into the Arctic.

The central location of the Hawaiian Islands between America and Japan brought many whaling ships to the Islands. Whalers needed food and the islands supplied this need from its fertile lands. Starting with Cook’s arrival, his crew and later the whalers sought and received other pleasures.

Kaʻahumanu and her followers seem to have concluded that an alliance with the missionaries would bring greater religious, political and economic benefits than the future envisioned from the foreign businessmen.

By adopting Christianity, Kaʻahumanu and most of the other Chiefs could claim to rule in the name of the God worshipped by most western leaders, perhaps gaining legitimacy and respect in their eyes. (Kashay)

The chiefs “proceeded to take more active measures for suppressing the vices which were destroying their race, and for promoting education. In the seaports of Honolulu and Lahaina this policy immediately brought them into collision with a lawless and depraved class of foreigners.” (Alexander)

Laws promulgated by Kaʻahumanu to be observed throughout the kingdom, and supported by the chiefs from all over the group except Boki. (These were the laws:)
1. You shall not commit murder; he who puts another to death shall himself die.
2. You shall not commit adultery; he who commits this crime, man or woman, shall be banished to Kahoolawe.
3. You shall not practice prostitution; anyone guilty of this shall be imprisoned and beaten across his back with a rope, and if he still fails to keep the law shall be banished to Kahoolawe.
4. Natives and foreigners are forbidden to manufacture, sell, or drink liquor.” (Kamakau)

“It is said to have been the motto of the buccaneers that ‘there was no God this side of Cape Horn.’ Here, where there were no laws, no press, and no public opinion to restrain men, the vices of civilized lands were added to those of the heathen, and crime was open and shameless.”

“Accordingly, in no part of the world has there been a more bitter hostility to reform. As soon as laws began to be enacted to restrict drunkenness and prostitution, a series of disgraceful outrages were perpetrated to compel their repeal.” (Alexander)

In the mid-1820s and early-1830s, several clashes (writers of the time referred to them as ‘ourtages’) happened that included the missionaries, merchants and whalers.

Outrage at Lahaina, 1825 – The ship ‘Daniel,’ of London, commanded by Captain Buckle, arrived at Lahaina October 3d, 1825, and the crew soon found that a change had taken place on shore since their last visit.”

“Two days later several of them entered Mr. Richards’s house and threatened him and his wife with death if he did not procure the repeal of the obnoxious law.”

“Their calm and heroic demeanor seems to have saved their lives for a time. On the 7th a larger company, armed with knives and pistols, landed under a black flag and forced an entrance into the yard, when the natives interfered, barely in time to rescue the lives of their teachers.”

“Outrage of the ‘Dolphin,’ Lieutenant Percival – On the 23d of January, 1826, the United States armed schooner ‘Dolphin,’ Lieutenant John Percival, arrived at Honolulu from the Marshall Islands, where he had taken off the surviving mutineers of the whale-ship ‘Globe.’”

“About this time the American ship ‘London’ was wrecked at Lanai, and the ‘Dolphin’ went there to save the cargo. On his return, February 22d, Lieutenant Percival called on the queen regent, and demanded the repeal of the law against vice, threatening violence if it were not done.”

“On the 26th his men attacked the houses of Kalanimōku, who was ill, and the mission premises, and did considerable damage before they were driven off. Mr Bingham was rescued from their hands by the natives, narrowly escaping with his life.” (Alexander)

The ship captains “blamed Bingham for the prohibition on prostitution and threatened to tear down Bingham’s house…. the sea captains were adamant that the missionaries were to blame for imposing Christian, Ten Commandment-based laws.”

“But during the confrontation with Captain Percival and Kaʻahumanu, she insisted that the aliʻi had accepted the word of Christ and that they were responsible the ban of (prostitution)”. (Brown)

Marie Alohalani Brown recounts correspondence of the time explaining the 1826 event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypKgWNNjBc

“Second Outrage at Lahaina – In October, 1826, the crews of several whale-ships landed at Lahaina, threatening to massacre Mr. Richards and his family, who happened to be absent at Kailua, Hawaii. They went in a body to demolish his house, but found it strongly guarded.”

“They continued rioting several days, breaking open and plundering the houses of the natives. The native women had all fled to the mountains with Kekauōnohi, who was acting as governess in Hoapili’s absence, and remained there until the ships sailed for O‘ahu.”

“Third Outrage at Lahaina – In October, 1827, another assault was made at Lahaina by the crew of the ‘John Palmer,’ an English whaler, commanded by Captain Clarke, an American.”

“Governor Hoapili, having learned that several native women were on board, contrary to law, demanded that they should be landed. The Captain evaded and ridiculed the demand from day to day.”

“At last one evening the governor detained him on shore, and seized his boat to enforce his demand. Upon Captain Clarke’s promise to return the women in the morning, he was released.”

“Meanwhile the crew had opened fire on the village with a nine-pound gun, aiming five shots at Mr. Richards’s house, which, however, did little damage. The next morning Captain Clarke sailed for Honolulu, without keeping his promise.” (Alexander)

In March 1831, Kaʻahumanu and Kuakini came down hard, imposing moral law in Honolulu. The two restricted liquor licenses, the sale of rum, and gambling. They also tabooed ‘lewdness, & Sabbath breaking,’ meaning that both Hawaiians and foreigners could no longer play games, dance, ride horses or carouse on Sundays.

At a public meeting on April 1, 1831, Kauikeaouli announced that he had sequestered the lands, forts and laws of Honolulu, and had given them to Kaʻahumanu.

She, in turn, decreed that future governmental policy would be based on the 10 Commandments, and put Kuakini in charge of enforcement. (Daws)

The new Governor threatened that ‘if any transgressed he should take all their property and pull their houses down.’ Under the leadership of a native by the name of ‘Big Ben,’ the Hawaiian police constantly patrolled the streets of Honolulu.

As part of their new duties, they invaded private homes, grog shops, and gambling halls, searching for contraband liquor and lawbreakers. In the process, Big Ben’s force confiscated drinks, broke up billiard, bowling, and card games, and wreaked havoc on the lives of the foreign population. (Kashay)

The whaling industry was the mainstay of the island economy for about 40 years. For Hawaiian ports, the whaling fleet was the crux of the economy. More than 100 ships stopped in Hawaiian ports in 1824.

The effect on Hawaiʻi’s economy, particularly in areas in reach of Honolulu, Lāhainā and Hilo, the main whaling ports, was dramatic and of considerable importance in the islands’ history.

Then, whaling came swiftly to an end. In 1859, an oil well was discovered and developed in Titusville, Pennsylvania; within a few years this new type of oil replaced whale oil for lamps and many other uses – spelling the end of the whaling industry.

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July 13, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Thomas ap Catesby Jones to Hawaii

“When a candid and impartial view is taken of the nature and condition of our trade and commerce among the South Sea islands, and of the condition of the governments of those islands in 1823 …”

“… compared with what they now are, and with what they are destined to be, it will hardly be denied that our interests in that quarter, even in 1826, were sufficient to warrant the expense of a mission of high grade.”

“Between our trade with China, and our whale-fishery and commerce among the South Sea Islands, I consider the latter vastly more important to the United States, viewed in whatever light the question may be.”

“Master Commandant Jones was instructed to endeavor to relieve those islands from American seamen, who improperly deserted from whaling and other vessels, and taken refuge there, to the annoyance, not only of the people, but to the injury of our own citizens …”

“… to make arrangements by which such desertions might be prevented, and, if possible, to secure certain debts due to our citizens by the people, and government.”

Thomas ap Catesby Jones was born April 24, 1790 to Major Catesby and Lettice Turbeville Jones at Hickory Hill in Westmoreland County, Virginia. (The ‘ap’ in his name is a Welch prefix noting he is ‘Thomas, the son of Catesby Jones.’)

Growing concerns over treatment, safety and attitudes toward American sailors (and therefore other US citizens in the Islands) led the US Navy to send Jones to sail to the Islands, report back on what he learned, banish the bad-attitude sailors and maintain cordial relations with the Hawaiian government.

In his words … “The object of my visit to the Sandwich Islands was of high national importance, of multifarious character, and left entirely to my judgment as to the mode of executing it, with no other guide than a laconic order, which the Government designed one of the oldest and most experienced commanders in the navy should execute …”

“… if then it should appear that I have transcended the authority legally vested in me by the course I have pursued, whether as regards the arrangements made with the authorities of the several islands …”

“… or with respect to the exercise of judicial power over, and the removal of citizens of the United States from the scenes of their lawless practices, I once for all place my defence upon the grounds of imperious necessity in a situation altogether then novel and without a precedent.”

“For here we find the flag of most commercial nations covering their ships richly laden, whilst their heterogeneous crews promiscuously intermix on shore without the constraint of law …”

“… which, if necessary, to curb the inordinate propensities of man in the best regulated societies, what might we not expect of sailors, who from time immemorial, have been looked upon, though with great injustice, as the very refuse of the human species …”

“… when those who convey them there, and who ought to set a better example, declare that ‘there is no law round Cape Horn,’ and that no act however atrocious, committed by a foreigner at those Islands is cognizable, or can be punished by the laws of the country to which the offender owes allegiance …”

“… and they even go further and declare that the Rulers of the Islands have no authority to punish foreigners who transgress their laws. Such were the judicial views of the foreign residents and traders at ‘ Woahoo’ when the Peacock arrived.”

“Then may I be asked what guarantee had the American Merchants for the safety of five millions of their property that enters the port of Honolulu annually, or the individual engaged in this commerce, for his life and liberty. The answer must be none!”

“Again we see a great influx of English Renegades from New South Wales into the Sandwich as well as the Society Islands, and I was informed by the English Consul-General for those Islands that his orders were not to molest these scape-gallows …”

“… who as soon as out of the reach of the halter, according to the views of the British ministry, are fit subjects for increasing His Majesty’s influence, and even for giving laws to the South Sea Islanders.”

“The missionaries at the Society Islands will bear testimony to the great evils Otaheite has already experienced by the interference of convicts who have escaped from Botany Bay, and forced their way to that Island.”

“Their number is quite sufficient now, at the different islands – and I know it to have been their design, in the event of war between the United States and England …”

“… to fit out the small vessels of the islands for the purpose of predatory warfare upon our defenceless commerce and whale-fishery in the Pacific Ocean, which, with the assistance of the Islanders, they would have annihilated before protection could be sent to its relief …”

“… hence the importance of strict neutrality on the part of all the South Sea Islanders in future wars between the United States and European Powers.”

“Under so great a responsibility, it was necessary for me to proceed with the greatest caution, and to measure well every step before it was taken; consequently the first ten or fifteen days were devoted to the study and examination of the character and natural disposition of a people who are so little known to the civilized world, and with whom I had important business to transact.”

“I however, at an early period after my arrival, took an occasion to state verbally to the chiefs, etc., that I should in a few days address them some communications designed to place upon a firm and permanent basis the friendly intercourse between our respective countries …”

“… to which they answered ‘it is good,’ or ‘it will be well,’ which is the highest term of approbation their language admits of. At this time Kalaimoku, the Prime Minister, a chief of great talents and influence was laboring under a severe dropsical attack …”

“… and Kaahumanu, in whom the government of the islands at present rests, was absent, and whose approbation could alone render valid any arrangement that might be effected …”

“… my principal communication was not made until the 13th of November; in the mean time preliminary notes were addressed to the King under dates of Oct. 17th, 23rd, and 31st, and November 4th, 1826.”

“The regulations which accompanied the letter of the 23rd were immediately approved of by Governor Boki and the King, and were accordingly adopted, and now form a part of their code …”

“The rule suggested by myself, and which was adopted on that occasion, with regard to citizens of the United States, and which ought never to be departed from, was, that all those sailors who had deserted, however remote the period …”

“… should be removed from the island, and those who were there from any other cause who had not some visible means of making an honest livelihood should also he removed, as well as all other foreigners who did not support a good character.”

“The number of American deserters banished from the scenes of their iniquity (many of whom, however, had been driven to it by the oppression of their employers)on this occassion, amounted to near thirty …”

“… most of whom were ultimately disposed of to the whale-ships in port, while the remainder, with the exception of one or two who were of notorious bad character, were permitted to sign articles for, and now compose a part of the Peacock’s crew.” (Jones Report to Navy Department, 1827)

Jones resolved the sailor desertion issue, the chiefs agreed to pay in full the debts and then Jones negotiated ‘Articles of Arrangement’ noting the “peace and friendship subsisting between the United States and their Majesties, the Queen Regent and Kauikeaouli, King of the Sandwich Islands, and their subjects and people,” (later referred to as the Treaty of 1826, the first treaty signed by the Hawaiians and US.)

He “secured for himself among the people the designation of ‘the kind-eyed chief’ – a compliment falling on the ear of many of different classes”. (Hiram Bingham)

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July 9, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

‘Landsman’ In the Navy

According to Stauder, “The documented facts concerning (Humehume’s) service in the American Navy – this service which should merit ‘a very peculiar claim upon the charity of Americans.’ – tell a far different story from that given in (various) accounts (including his letter home).”

Humehume, son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i, was about six or seven years old when an American ship, the Hazard, under the command of Captain James Rowan, anchored at Waimea, Kauai.

Kaumuali‘i had early in his reign established friendly relationships with British and American sea captains. He was a genial and helpful ruler when ships called at Kauai for supplies.

He knew Captain Rowan from previous port calls and entrusted Humehume to Rowan’s care for the long voyage to America via the Orient. The Hazard sailed from Kauai in January 1804. (Spoehr)

The purpose of sending Humehume to America was either to enable George to receive a formal education, or as some believe, to avoid tensions on Kauai concerning succession to the kingship. King Kaumuali‘i provided Captain Rowan with about seven or eight thousand dollars to cover the cost of his son’s passage and the expenses of his education.

After about four years, Rowan was unable to care for George any longer and turned him over to Captain Samuel Cotting, a school keeper in Worcester. Cotting was Humehume’s preceptor for the next four years. When Cotting moved from Worcester to neighboring Fitchburg, he took Humehume with him. (Spoehr)

“I lived with (Cotting) till he became very poor, and I thought I would seek for my own living rather than to live with him, and I went to Boston”. (Humehume letter to Kaumuali‘i, October 19, 1816) Instead of returning to Hawai‘i, Humehume enlisted in the U.S. Navy and as ‘George Prince’. (Spoehr)

Humehume wrote to his father explaining (or embellishing) his service … “I shipped on board the Brig Enterprise in order to go and fight with the Englishmen. After I went on board I went to sea then, and I was about 30 days from land before we meet the enemis that we wear seeking after. We came to an Action in a few minutes after we hove in sight.”

“We fought with her abought an hour, and in the mean time, I was wounded in my right side with a boarding pike, which it pained me very much. It was the blessing of God that I was keept from Death. I ought to be thankful that I was preserved from Death. I am going to tell you more of my being in other parts of the world. I then was drafted on board of the US Ship Guerrier.”

“I went then to the Streats of Mediterranean. I had a very pleasant voyage up there, but was not there long before we fell in with the barbarous turks of Algiers.”

“But we come to an action in a few minutes, after we spied these people; we fought with them about three hours and took them and brought them up to the city of Algiers and then I came to Tripoly, and then I came to Naples, and from thence I came to Gibraltar and then I came back to America.” (Humehume letter to Kaumuali‘i, October 19, 1816)

However, Stauder notes, “The first battle in which George claimed participation was the engagement between the Enterprise (American) and the Boxer (British). This took place September 5, 1813 off Portland, Maine. The name ‘George Prince’ is not on the muster roll of the vessel, nor is it on the list of ten wounded.”

“(The) description of the action is not confirmed by official reports. George reported being at sea about thirty days from land before the enemy was encountered, engaging in action a few minutes after sighting, and being wounded in his right side with a boarding pike.”

“The surviving senior officer of the Enterprise, Edward R McCall, reported that the vessel left Portsmouth on Sept. 1, 1813, and on the morning of Sept. 5 sighted the Boxer. At three pm, after reconnoitering, the Enterprise ran down with intent to bring to close action. At twenty minutes after 3 pm, when within half pistol shot, the firing commenced from both vessels.”

“It was ‘warmly kept up’ and about 4 pm the Boxer surrendered; she was a wreck. The Enterprise escorted the Boxer into the Portland harbor. The crew of neither ship boarded the other during the battle.”

“The name ‘George Prince’ does appear on the Enterprise muster roll, but not until June 19, 1815, at Boston, almost two years after the battle in which he claimed to have taken part. He was No. 68 on the roll and signed on as a ‘landsman.’”

(A landsman was the lowest rank and given to recruits with no experience at sea. They performed the dirtiest, heaviest, and most menial tasks, and endured the harassment of their more seasoned shipmates. With at least three years’ experience, or upon re–enlisting, a Landsman could be promoted to Ordinary Seaman. (Williams))

“At this time Commander William Bainbridge was fitting out a naval squadron to attack the Algerian pirates in the Mediterranean; the Enterprise was one of the ships in his squadron.”

“It sailed from Boston, July 3, 1815, and arrived in the Mediterranean after Decator’s squadron, with the Guerriere as flagship, had defeated the enemy. Again, George missed the battle.”

“The Enterprise visited a number of Mediterranean ports in a show of strength and returned to America, arriving at Newport, November 15, 1815. The Guerriere had arrived at New York, November 12, 1815. George transferred to the Guerriere in New York December 12, 1815, muster roll No. 944, still a ‘landsman.’”

“About two months later, he transferred to the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Mass., muster roll No. 367 and is listed as No. 449 on March 14, 1816. George was on board both vessels but not at the time they engaged in battle. His discharge is dated September 27, 1816, still a ‘landsman.’” (Stauder)

George was now about 18 years old. By this time there were several Hawaiian youths in New England who had arrived out of curiosity or a thirst for adventure and knowledge. (Spoehr) On October 23, 1819, he returned to the Islands on the Thaddeus with the Pioneer Company of American Protestant missionaries.

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July 5, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Future Captains

Captain James Cook set sail on three voyages to the South Seas. His first Pacific voyage (1768-1771) was aboard the Endeavour and began on May 27, 1768. It had three aims; go to Tahiti to record the transit of Venus (when Venus passes between the earth and sun – June 3, 1769;) record natural history, led by 25-year-old Joseph Banks; and search for the Great South Land.

Cook’s second Pacific voyage (1772-1775) aboard Resolution and Adventure aimed to establish whether there was an inhabited southern continent, and make astronomical observations.

Cook’s third and final voyage (1776-1779) of discovery was an attempt to locate a North-West Passage, an ice-free sea route which linked the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Cook commanded the Resolution while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. (State Library, New South Wales)

“Every Fighting Service has, and must have, two main categories – ‘Officers’ and ‘Men.’ The Royal Navy in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was no exception. The distinction existed: was indeed more than ordinarily marked. It was not only a naval distinction, but a sharp social one too.”

“‘Officers’ as contemporary society used that word, came from one walk of life, ‘Men’ from another: and, as it was not easy in Society to pass from a lower stratum to a higher, so in the Navy, it was not easy for a ‘Man’ to become an Officer. But it was possible.” (Captain Cook Society)

“Cook had chosen his subordinates well or had been lucky. The officers of the third voyage were a remarkably intelligent group of men.” (Captain Cook Society)

“All the great remaining voyages of the eighteenth century drew on Cook’s officers. Bligh, Portlock, Vancouver, Colnett, Riou, and Hergest all got their commands and served with great distinction. These men then passed on their skills to a second generation of men such as Flinders and Broughton.” (Mackay, Captain Cook Society)

We’ll look at three of these familiar names, here in the Islands, as well as the Pacific – Portlock, Bligh and Vancouver.

Nathaniel Portlock was born in Norfolk, Virginia in about 1748. At about the age of 24, he entered the Royal Navy as an able seaman on the St Albans. On March 30, 1776, he served as master’s mate on Captain James Cook’s third Pacific voyage aboard the Discovery. Portlock was transferred to the Resolution, also on the expedition, in August 1779.

Then, in 1785, a group of London merchants formed the “King George’s Sound Co” (also known as Richard Cadman Etches and Company,) for the purpose of carrying on the fur trade from the western coast of America to China, bringing home cargoes of tea from Canton for the East India Company. They bought two boats; Portlock and George Dixon were selected to sail them (Dixon also previously sailed with Cook to Hawai‘i.)

That year, the two traveled to the North Pacific. Portlock commanded the 1785-1788 expedition from the ship King George, while Dixon captained the Queen Charlotte. The purpose of the expedition was to investigate the potential of the Alaskan fur trade and to resume Cook’s search for a Northwest Passage through the continent.

The pair left England on August 29, 1785, and took nearly a year to reach Alaska, rounding Cape Horn and touching at Hawaiʻi on the way. During the course of their 3-year expedition, they made three trips to Hawaiʻi, first arriving off the coast of Kaʻū, May 24, 1786.

A favorite anchorage on Oʻahu for Portlock was at Maunalua Bay, between Koko Point and Diamond Head (which Portlock named King George’s Bay.)

Maunalua was thought to be well-populated in ancient times. Maunalua was known for its offshore fishing resources, a large fishpond, and sweet potato cultivation. Taro was farmed in wet areas, sweet potato was grown in the drier regions and a series of fishing villages lined the coast. (McElroy) Part of that area now carries the Portlock name.

William Bligh was part of the Cook’s crew on its third voyage. Bligh later captained the Bounty on a voyage to gather breadfruit trees from Tahiti and take them to Jamaica in the Caribbean. There, the trees would be planted to provide food for slaves.

According to a legend, the chief Kahai brought the breadfruit tree to Hawaiʻi from Samoa in the twelfth century and first planted it at Kualoa, Oʻahu. Only one variety was known in Hawaiʻi, while more than 24 were distinguished by native names in the South Seas. (CTAHR)

“This tree, whose fruit is so useful, if not necessary, to the inhabitants of most of the islands of the South Seas, has been chiefly celebrated as a production of the Sandwich Islands; it is not confined to these alone, but is also found in all the countries bordering on the Pacific Ocean.” (Book of Trees, 1837)

Bligh didn’t make it back on the Bounty, his crew mutinied (April 28, 1789;) one reason for the mutiny was that the crew believed Bligh cared more about the breadfruit than them (he cut water rationing to the crew in favor of providing water for the breadfruit plants.) Bligh’s tombstone, in part, reads he was the “first (who) transplanted the bread fruit tree.”

In the introduction to Captain George Vancouver’s journals of his voyage to the Pacific, his brother John wrote, “that from the age of thirteen, his whole life to the commencement of this expedition, (to the Pacific) has been devoted to constant employment in His Majesty’s naval service.” Vancouver was one of the seamen and midshipman who had travelled with Cook on his second and third voyages.

In 1791, Vancouver later entered the Pacific a dozen years later in command of the second British exploring expedition. (HJH) Vancouver visited Hawaiʻi three times, in 1792, 1793 and 1794.

On the first trip, Vancouver’s ships “Discovery” and “Chatham” first rounded the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and traveled to Tahiti, via Australia and New Zealand, and then sailed north to the Hawaiian Islands.

On his second trip in February 1793, the “Discovery” and “Chatham” first circled and surveyed the Island Hawaiʻi. From a meeting he had with Kamehameha, he noted in his Journal, that he was …

“… agreeably surprised in finding that his riper years had softened that stern ferocity, which his younger days had exhibited, and had changed his general deportment to an address characteristic of an open, cheerful, and sensible mind; combined with great generosity, and goodness of disposition.” (Vancouver, 1798)

When Kamehameha came aboard the ship, taking Vancouver’s hand, he “demanded, if we were sincerely his friends”, to which Vancouver answered in the affirmative. Kamehameha then said “he understood we belonged to King George, and asked if he was likewise his friend.”

“On receiving a satisfactory answer to this question, he declared the he was our firm good friend; and according to the custom of the country, in testimony of the sincerity of our declarations we saluted by touching noses.” (Vancouver, 1798)

In the exchange of gifts, after that, Kamehameha presented four feathered helmets and other items, Vancouver gave Kamehameha the remaining livestock on board, “five cows, two ewes and a ram.”

The farewell between the British and the Hawaiians was emotional, but both understood that Vancouver would be returning the following winter.

Just before Vancouver left Kawaihae on March 9, 1793, he gave Isaac Davis and John Young a letter testifying that “Tamaahaah, with the generality of the Chiefs, and the whole of the lower order of People, have conducted themselves toward us with the strictest honest, civility and friendly attention.” (Speakman, HJH)

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