Images of Old Hawaiʻi

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Honolulu Oil

William Matson was born in 1849 in a Swedish seacoast town and ran off to sea at the age of twelve. According to his daughter, he had not a single day’s schooling in his life.

At 18, Matson “came round the Horn” to California and soon worked his way up to the captaincy of a scow schooner (barge) in San Francisco Bay.

At age 33 he became one-quarter owner—for $5,000—of the new three-masted schooner, Emma Claudia, and brought her to Hilo on her first voyage. Matson saw opportunity on the Big Island and began to focus his service there.

“My father used to do everything. He bought the horses, he bought needles, thread, mules, dress materials… a floating store.” (daughter Lurline Matson)

Every voyage was a partnership—with different partners holding shares, generally in eighths—and then splitting the profits. Matson expanded in this way, buying more ships and chartering others.

Matson became well established in the Hawaiian trade. His small fleet of sailing vessels shuttled back and forth between Hilo and San Francisco.

Westbound to Hawai‘i, he would bring goods of all descriptions. Eastbound to California, he would take sugar, molasses, fruits, vegetables and hides.

His fleet was still all wind-driven sailing ships, though in 1889 he was quoted: “I was wondering whether I’d ever be able to run a steamship between the islands and San Francisco.”

In 1901, Matson acquired his first steamship, the Enterprise. At that time, most steamers burned coal to fire the boilers. Matson immediately converted the Enterprise to the first oil burner in the Pacific, because oil was cheaper.

It cost $2.10 in oil for the same energy provided by $7.00 worth of coal. Oil was also cleaner, more space efficient, and demanded less manpower.

Matson recognized the potential of oil. He convinced Hawai‘i’s plantation and sugar mill owners to switch from coal and bagasse (sugar cane waste) to oil. Then he converted some of his sailing flee into tankers to carry the oil to the Islands.

Matson said, “If you use fuel in large quantities, you must control the source.” To insure a supply of oil for his ships, Captain Matson bought some wells in California and built a “couldn’t be done” 112-mile pipeline from the Coalinga oil fields to Monterey.

In 1903, he formed the Monarch Oil Company and five years later bought the Buena Vista Hills property (Matson later renamed the area Honolulu Hills) and a year later (1910) created Honolulu Oil Company.

Matson told investors: “You’ll either go broke or get rich.” (Castle and Cooke invested $140,000. Fifty years later, the company was receiving $400,000 in annual dividends, and finally liquidated its shares (at government behest) for over $23-million.)

Honolulu Oil Corporation was engaged in exploration for, and extraction and sale of oil and gas in 15 states and the Dominion of Canada. The actual drilling was done by independent contractors, with Honolulu’s engineers acting in an advisory capacity.

Honolulu’s operations were divided into five geographical divisions: California (California, Nevada and Utah,) Mid-Continent (Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska and Oklahoma,) Canadian, Rocky Mountain (Montana and Wyoming,) Southeastern (Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee.) Reports note Honolulu Oil was later acquired by a larger oil company.

In 1911, Matson developed compressors to convert his oil product into gasoline and a year later built a pipeline to Los Angeles. That led to the modernization of the US Navy and their conversion to oil. (David Whitley; Taft Midway Driller)

Captain Matson brought the Falls of Clyde into the Hawaiian sugar trade, specifically servicing the plantations of the Big Island, bringing needed goods and machinery from the West Coast to Hilo, and returning with burlap sacks full of raw sugar on its way to the California refineries and then to the markets of the US.

He modified the Falls of Clyde sail plan, added a deck house and chart house, and rearrange the after-quarter for passengers. From 1899 to 1907, the Falls made over sixty voyages between these ports. Sailing time averaged seventeen days.

To help move oil, the Falls of Clyde was converted to a sailing oil tanker (1907;) her insides were gutted and ten large tanks were constructed along both sides and the bottom, giving her a capacity of 756,000 gallons of oil.

Heavy-duty pumps and a second steam boiler to operate them were installed. She sailed between Gaviota and Honolulu Harbor; molasses was often loaded into her tanks for the run back to California.

She continued to carry a few passengers and small amounts of cargo “tweendecks.” (Simpson) (Lots of information here is from Simpson, Stanford, Castle & Cooke and Taft Midway Driller.)

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by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Kūlou

Hawaiian chronology counts by generations, neither by reigns nor by years. In computing long genealogies, thirty years to a generation is approximately correct. (Fornander)

When ʻUmi died he was succeeded as Mōʻī of Hawaiʻi by his oldest son, Kealiʻiokaloa; he is remembered as an unpopular king, and the only event of note connected with his reign is the arrival on the coast of Kona of some shipwrecked white people.

Arrival of the shipwrecked foreigners – white people – took place between the years 1521-1530 AD. (Fornander)

“In the time of Kealiʻiokaloa, king of Hawaii and son of ʻUmi, arrived a vessel at Hawaii. Konalihoa was the name of the vessel, and Kukanaloa was the name of the foreigner (white man) who commanded, or to whom belonged the vessel. His sister was also with him on the vessel.”

“As they were sailing along, approaching the land, the vessel struck at the pali of Keʻei and was broken to pieces by the surf, and the foreigner and his sister swam ashore and were saved, but the greater part of the crew perished perhaps; that is not well ascertained.”

“And when they arrived ashore they prostrated themselves on the beach, uncertain perhaps on account of their being strangers, and of the different kind of people whom they saw there, and being very fearful perhaps.”

“A long time they remained prostrated on the shore, and hence the place was called Kūlou, and is so called to this day. The white rock there is called Pohakukea, and the cliff above ‘Mauna-kapu,’ or Sacred Mountain, for there the Spaniards are said to have worshipped.”

“And when evening came the people of the place took them to a house and entertained them, asking them if they were acquainted with the food set before them, to which they replied that they were; and afterwards, when breadfruit, ohis and bananas were shown them, they expressed a great desire to have them.”

“The strangers cohabitated with the Hawaiians and has children with they became ancestors of some of the Hawaiian people, and also of some of the chiefs”

They were known as Lala kea, meaning white branch of the tree. To the Hawaiians the white man was termed kekea, while haole meant any foreigner, irrespective of color. (Fornander; Taylor)

In Burney’s ‘Discoveries in the South Seas,’ on October 31, 1527, three vessels left a port called Zivat Lanejo, said by Galvaom to be situated lat. 20° N. on the coast of New Spain, for the Moluccas or Spice Islands.

The vessels were called the ‘Florida,’ with fifty men, the ‘St. Iago,’ with forty-five men, and the ‘Espiritu Santo,’ with fifteen men. They carried thirty pieces of cannon and a quantity of merchandise, and they were under the command of Don Alvaro de Saavedra.

These vessels sailed in company, and when they had accomplished 1000 leagues from port, they were overtaken by a severe storm, during which they were separated. The two smaller vessels were never afterwards heard of, and Saavedra pursued the voyage alone in the ‘Florida,’ touching at the Ladrone Islands. (Fornander)

“It seems certain that a foreign vessel which was wrecked about this time on the Kona coast of Hawaii must have been one of Saavedra’s missing ships.” (Alexander; Westervelt)

From this ship a white man and woman escaped. After reaching the beach they knelt for a long time in prayer. The Hawaiians, watching them, waited until they rose, and received welcome.

The place was at once named ‘Kūlou’ (kneeling.) Through all the succeeding years the name kept the story of the wrecked white chiefs before the Hawaiian people.

The Hawaiians received their white visitors as honored guests, and permitted them to marry into noted chief-families. In the Hawaiian legends the man and woman are called brother and sister. The man was named Kukanaloa. (Westervelt)

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by Peter T Young 6 Comments

Lurline

Lorelei (Loreley) means lauern, “to lurk,” “be on the watch for,” and lai, “a rock” – also “murmuring rock.” The Lorelei is a rock in the Rhine River – it marks the narrowest part of the river between Switzerland and the North Sea.

Stories say that Lorelei was a maiden who threw herself into the Rhine in despair over a faithless lover, and became a siren whose voice lured boats to destruction.

A variant of Lorelei is Lurline – some ships carry her name.

William Matson had first come to appreciate the name in the 1870s while serving as skipper aboard the Claus Spreckels family yacht ‘Lurline’ out of San Francisco Bay.

Born in Sweden, Captain Matson (1849–1917) arrived in San Francisco in 1867, at the age of 16. There, he began sailing in San Francisco Bay and northern California rivers.

Captain Matson became acquainted with the Spreckels family and was asked to serve as skipper on the Spreckels’ yacht, Lurline. The Spreckels family later assisted Captain Matson in obtaining his first ship, the Emma Claudina.

In 1882, Matson sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina from San Francisco to Hilo, carrying 300 tons of food, plantation supplies and general merchandise.

That voyage launched a company that has been involved in such diversified interests as oil exploration, hotels and tourism, military service during two world wars and even briefly, the airline business. Matson’s primary interest throughout, however, has been carrying freight between the Pacific Coast and Hawai‘i.

In 1887, Captain Matson sold the Emma Claudina and acquired the 150-foot brigantine Lurline from Spreckels – this was the first of several famous Matson vessels to bear the Lurline name.

Matson met his future wife, Lillie Low, on a yacht voyage he captained to Hawai‘i; the couple named their daughter Lurline Berenice Matson, she was their only child.

After Lurline was born, Captain Matson did not command a ship again, but the family often traveled on the Matson ships to Hawaiʻi, staying there for a month or more at a time.

During one of these trips, Lillie and Lurline created the Matson Navigation Company flag from old signal flag pieces; the design is a circle with a large “M” surrounded by seven stars depicting the seven ships then in the fleet.

Matson built a steamship named Lurline in 1908; one which carried mainly freight yet could hold 51 passengers, along with 65-crew. That steamer served Matson for twenty years, including a stint with United States Shipping Board during World War I.

The family bought a house near Mills College where they spent summers, and they would rent a house in San Francisco for the winter months. Lurline remembers her father as “strict and straight-laced.” Lurline commuted to the city with her father to attend Miss Hamlin’s, a private girl’s school, studying music and art.

In 1913, Lurline met Bill Roth, a young stockbroker in Honolulu; she and Roth were married in 1914. Roth sold his brokerage business and went to work for Matson Navigation Company in San Francisco.

In October 1916, Captain William Matson died at age 67. After his death, Bill Roth was named general manager and vice president of Matson Navigation Company.

The Roths lived in San Francisco. Their son, William Matson Roth, was born in September 1916. Identical twins, Lurline and Berenice, named for their mother’s first and middle names, were born in 1921. (Filoli)

By 1918, Hawaiʻi had 8,000 visitors annually and by the 1920s Matson Navigation Company ships were bringing an increasing number of wealthy visitors.

With growing passenger traffic to Hawai‘i, Matson built a world-class luxury liner, the SS Malolo (later christened the Matsonia,) in 1927. At the time, the Malolo was the fastest ship in the Pacific, cruising at 22 knots. Its success led to the construction of the luxury liners Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline between 1930 and 1932.

On December 27, 1932, the Lurline sailed on her maiden voyage from San Francisco to Australia via Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Sydney and Melbourne.

This was the heyday of the great Matson Liners; passenger trains were adopted as “Boat Trains,” carrying passengers from New York and Chicago to connect in San Francisco with the liner sailings. (cruiselinehistory)

Matson’s famed “white ships” were instrumental in the development of tourism in Hawai‘i. Matson’s luxury ocean liner and its 650-wealthy passengers would be arriving in Honolulu every two weeks.

In 1927, Matson built the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and, in 1932, Matson bought the Moana. Matson’s Waikiki hotels provided tourists with luxury accommodations both ashore and afloat.

Immediately after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the passenger liners Lurline, Matsonia, Mariposa and Monterey, and 33 Matson freighters, were called to military service.

The post-war period for Matson was somewhat difficult. The expense of restoration work proved to be very costly and necessitated the sale of the Mariposa and Monterey, still in wartime gray. In 1948, the Lurline returned to service after a $20-million reconversion.

Later, Laurance Rockefeller encouraged his San Francisco friend, owner of shipping company, Lurline Matson Roth, to build a house next to the Mauna Kea property. (The Roth family also lived in Filoli, the property in Woodside, CA, now open to the public.)

The Lurline continued to provide first class-only service between Hawaiʻi and the American mainland from June 1957 to September 1962, mixed with the occasional Pacific cruise. In 1963, the Lurline was sold and resold (renamed Ellinis,) and later laid up in 1981 and scrapped in Taiwan in 1987. Matson was sold to Alexander & Baldwin in 1969.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Eleanora and Fair American

Simon Metcalfe (sometimes spelled Metcalf) (1735-1794) was an American fur trader.  He traded furs from the Pacific Northwest for goods from China.

Reportedly, Simon Metcalfe was the first American captain to take sea otters on the Northwest Coast and the first American to trade those skins in China.

Traders used Hawai‘i as a trading and provisioning site; they would take on food and water from Hawai‘i on their way across the Pacific.

Metcalfe was, by all accounts, a snappish, irritable, harsh individual, who believed in strong and immediate punishment for infractions of his rules.  He captained the Eleanora.

It was in Macao, China that Simon Metcalfe purchased and refitted another ship, a schooner named the Fair American. She was outfitted with sufficient cannons, muskets, and powder to make the trip eastward.

The two ships (Fair American and the Eleanora) sailed on the Philippines where they laid over for several months in preparation of the journey and to train young Thomas Humphrey Metcalfe (Simon’s 18-year-old son) to command the Fair American. The schooner Fair American sailed with Thomas Metcalfe at the helm, Isaac Davis and only four other crewmen aboard. (Durst)

The Eleanora and the Fair American on the 5th June, 1789, sailed in company from Macao. Off the Japanese coast they were separated in a storm and made their way thereafter by different routes towards Nootka.

Somewhere in Alaskan waters, or off the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Washington, then in command of Captain Kendrick, met the Eleanora probably in the month of September, and later also encountered the Fair American. (Howay)

“Everything being ready, both vessels sailed, having appointed Curacooa [Kealakekua] Bay as a rendezvous, in case of our separating at sea, at which, whoever first arrived, was to wait for the others.”

“When about half way over, we separated in a dark squally night, and the ship arrived off Kirowah [Kailua] after short passage.

The natives expressed much satisfaction at our return, and were so pleased to see us, that they were particularly desirous the ship should remain at anchor there.”

“The Captain proceeded to the appointed place to await the arrival of the schooner, and remained a number of days, hourly expecting her. There was no alteration in the conduct of the Indians; the ship was surrounded with canoes, and the deck covered with the natives from morning until sun-down, bringing with them the productions of the Island for trade.” (John Young. As Told to Captain Charles H. Barnard in 1816. By John Young-Himself In Paradise of the Pacific 1937; Durst)

In March, 1790 the Eleanora under Simon Metcalfe was at Kealakekua Bay in the Hawaiian Islands. … At the same time the Fair American, under his son Thomas Metcalfe, was at anchor near Kawaihae.  At this time, however, the Eleanora was probably unaware of the proximity of the other. (Howay)

The Hawaiians were at war … “All the Chiefs of Atooi and Oneehow were gone to windward to war with the Owhyheeans.“

“Indeed they have constantly been at war since Captain Cook was kill’d, and also have had a deal of Sickness which never before his time afflicted them which they allege to having kill’d him. They made strict enquiry of me, if ever he would come back again …”

“Since I was there in the Prince of Wales, two Volcanoes have open’d on the Lee side the Isle, which burn’d night and day with great fury and Tremendous Explosion which they say Captain Cook has caus’d.”  (Colnett)

“This Story was now unriddled to me. The Father of the Young man that commanded the Schooner had been here in a Brig a few days before ….” (Colnett)

Two actions by Simon Metcalfe at the end of the 1700s set in motion a series of events that, without which, the history of Hawai‘i could have been very, very different.

Simon Metcalfe (captaining the Eleanora) and his son Thomas Metcalfe (also a trader, captaining the Fair American); their plan was to meet and spend winter in the Hawaiian Islands.

Because of some infraction, Metcalfe mistreated and insulted Kame‘eiamoku (some reports say Metcalfe had Kame‘eiamoku flogged – by the way, Kame‘eiamoku is one of the twins embossed on the Royal Coat of Arms.)

Metcalfe then sailed to the neighboring island of Maui to trade along the coast (and ultimately initiated the Olowalu Massacre.)

Kame‘eiamoku vowed revenge on whatever American ship next came his way; On March 16, 1790, the Fair American was attacked by Kameʻeiamoku’s warriors at Puako, near Kawaihae, Hawaii.

“[A] small schooner named the Fair American was taken by the natives of Owhyhee (Hawaii). This schooner was tender to the Eleanora, Captain Metcalf, of New York, and commanded by his son, whom the natives killed with 3 seamen.”

“One (Isaac Davis) they threw overboard, but after beating and bruising him in a most shocking manner, they took him into one of the canoes and lashed him in with his face downwards, where [Isaac] Ridler [an American carpenter’s mate from the Columbia who was left in the fall of 1788 to collect sandalwood] found him, and interceded to save his life, in which he succeeded.” (Log of the Brig Hope-Ingraham)

“[T]he Eleanora, Captain Metcalf, Sr., was at this time in Karakakooa (Kealakekua) ignorant of the fate of his unfortunate son, although within a few miles of him.”  (Log of the Brig Hope-Ingraham)

“Part of the crew of the [Eleanora] went on shore by turns to amuse and recreate themselves in any way they chose, provided they did not interfere with or give offense to the natives; but I did not feel any particular desire to go on shore, as neither the Indians nor their manners were pleasing to me, although I entertained no particular dislike to them.”

“Tired of being constantly on board the ship. I one day [March 17, 1790] took a musket and went on shore, intending to take a ramble through the woods in pursuit of birds.” (John Young)

Metcalfe waited for Young to return; finally, sensing danger or becoming frustrated, Metcalfe departed and set sail for China (abandoning Young,) not knowing that his son had been killed not far away.

“In the middle of the afternoon, I returned to the shore, for the purpose of going on board, but there was no boat and all the canoes were hauled higher up on the beach as usual; the huts were all closed and not a native visible.”  (John Young. As Told to Captain Charles H. Barnard in 1816. By John Young-Himself In Paradise of the Pacific 1937; Durst)

It’s not clear what happened right after Metcalfe left Hawai‘i in 1790.  It was reported, however, that, in 1794, after apparently friendly trading with the Haida natives in Canada, he and his ship were captured (there was only one survivor.)

Looking back at Metcalfe’s two significant events of 1790, it makes you wonder, what would Hawai‘i’s history be like after 1790 if (1) Metcalfe hadn’t insulted Kame‘eiamoku, who later sought revenge and (2) John Young had not gone ashore on their return from Maui.

As it turns out, Kamehameha befriended Young and Davis, who became respected translators and his close and trusted advisors.  Their skill in gunnery, as well as the cannon and other weapons from the Fair American, helped Kamehameha win many battles.

“With the detention of Young and Davis in 1790, Kamehameha secured individuals able to tutor his forces in the usage of western artillery – cannons and muskets … Promoting his own campaigns with western armament clearly gave Kamehameha’s forces the advantage over enemies limited to traditional implements of warfare.” (Durst)

With these two men and the weapons, Kamehameha’s military was successful in his eventual conquest and unification of the Hawaiian Islands; first to Maui in 1790 and then O‘ahu in 1795.

The image, reportedly the oldest surviving document from Hawai‘i in the Hawai‘i State Archives is the letter, dated March 22, 1790, written by Captain Simon Metcalfe, addressed to four foreigners living there at the time (coincidently, one was also named John Young) – demanding the return of John Young and threatening revenge.

It reads, “As my Boatswain landed by your invitation if he is not returned to the Vessel consequences of an unpleasant nature must follow, (to distress a Vessel in these seas is an affair of no small magnitude) if your Word be the Law of Owhyhe (Hawai‘i) as you have repeatedly told me there can be no difficulty in doing me justice in this Business, otherwise I am possessed of sufficient powers to take ample revenge which it is your duty to make the head Chief (Kamehameha) acquainted with.”

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … Common Friends to Mankind

On April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War.  The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies of British North America.

Following this, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and it was signed by 56-members of the Congress (1776.)

The next eight years (1775-1783) war was waging on the eastern side of the continent.  The main result was an American victory and European recognition of the independence of the United States.

It was the turning point in the future of the continent and an everlasting change in the United States.

At this same time, there was a turning point in the future of the Islands.

Captain James 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)

In the dawn hours of January 18, 1778, British explorer Cook first sighted apparently uncharted islands in the middle of the Pacific.

“They were named by Captain Cook the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich, under whose administration he had enriched geography with so many splendid and important discoveries.” (Captain King’s Journal; Kerr)

Hawaiian lives changed with sudden and lasting impact, when western contact changed the course of history for Hawai‘i.

At the time of Cook’s arrival (1778-1779), the Hawaiian Islands were divided into four kingdoms: (1) the island of Hawaiʻi under the rule of Kalaniʻōpuʻu, who also had possession of the Hāna district of east Maui; (2) Maui (except the Hāna district,) Molokai, Lānai and Kahoʻolawe, ruled by Kahekili; (3) Oʻahu, under the rule of Kahahana; and at (4) Kauai and Niʻihau, Kamakahelei was ruler.

Throughout their stay, the ships were plentifully supplied with fresh provisions which were paid for mainly with iron, much of it in the form of long iron daggers made by the ships’ blacksmiths on the pattern of the wooden pāhoa used by the Hawaiians.

After a month’s stay, Cook got under sail again to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. Shortly after leaving Hawaiʻi Island, the foremast of the Resolution broke.  They returned to Kealakekua.

That night a skiff from the Discovery had been stolen. “Our unfortunate Commander, the last time he was seen distinctly, was standing at the water’s edge, and calling out to the boats to cease firing, and to pull in.”

“If it be true, as some of those who were present have imagined, that the marines and boat-men had fired without his orders, and that he was desireous of preventing 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 in the water.”  (Voyages of James Cook)  On February 14, 1779, Cook was killed.

At this same time, recall that back in the Atlantic, the American Revolutionary War was still ongoing with the Americans (with support from the French) fighting the British.

At Canton, King learned that the the American and French governments had issued a directive to all French sea captains exempting Cook from military action on his way back to England.

“Not long after Captain Cook’s death, an event occurred in Europe, which had a particular relation to the voyage of our Navigator, and which was so honourable to himself, and to the great nation from whom it proceeded”. (King)

On March 10, 1779, Benjamin Franklin, who at age seventh-three, had himself issued a similar directive to the captains of American ships,

“A Ship having been fitted out from England before the Commencement of this War, to make Discoveries of new Countries, in Unknown Seas, under the Conduct of that most celebrated Navigator and Discoverer Captain Cook …”

“… an Undertaking truely laudable in itself, as the Increase of Geographical Knowledge, facilitates the Communication between distant Nations, in the Exchange of useful Products and Manufactures, and the Extension of Arts …”

“… whereby the common Enjoyments of human Life are multiplied and augmented, and Science of other kinds encreased to the Benifit of Mankind in general.”

“This is therefore most earnestly to recommend to every one of you; that in case the said Ship which is now expected to be soon in the European Seas on her Return, should happen to fall into your Hands …”

“… you would not consider her as an Enemy, nor suffer any Plunder to be made of the Effects contained in her, nor obstruct her immediate Return to England, by detaining her or sending her into any other Part of Europe or to America …”

“… but that you would treat the said Captain Cook and his People with all Civility and Kindness, affording them as common Friends to Mankind …”

On March 19th, 1779, just a few days after Franklin’s, Monsieur Sartine, secretary of the marine department at Paris, sent to all the commanders of French ships the following statement/directive:

“Captain Cook, who sailed from Plymouth in July, 1776, on board the Resolution, in company with the Discovery, Captain Clerke, in order to make some discoveries on the coasts, islands, and seas of Japan and California …”

“… being on the point of returning to Europe, and such discoveries being of general utility to all nations, it is the king’s pleasure that Captain Cook shall be treated as a commander of a neutral and allied power …”

“… and that all captains of armed vessels, etc., who may meet that famous navigator, shall make him acquainted with the king’s orders on this behalf, but at the same time let him know that on his part he must refrain from all hostilities.”

“By the Marquis of Condorcet we are informed that this measure originated in the liberal and enlightened mind of that excellent citizen and statesman, Monsieur Turgot.”

“Whilst great praise is due to Monsieur Turgot for having suggested the adoption of a measure which hath contributed so much to the reputation of the French government, it must not be forgotten that the first thought of such a plan of conduct was probably owing to Dr. Benjamin Franklin.”

Franklin’s gesture of good will toward Cook was not least among the honors he brought to his fledgling country. On the return of the Discovery and Resolution, they met neither French nor American ships on the way home. (Captain Cook Society)

For more, Click the following link:

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/Common-Friends-to-Mankind.pdf

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