Sailing, Shipping & Shipwrecks | Page 37

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August 8, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cook, Gaetano and Hawaii

“On the 5th of April 1819, the Uranie sailed from Guam; she cast anchor at Owhyhee, the largest of the Sandwich Islands, on the 8th of August; on the 16th she touched at Mowhee; on the 26th at Woahoo; and on the 30th, finally quitted that Archipelago for Port Jackson”.

“One spot of blood has marked out Owhyhee to future nations: and the murder of Cook will ever be a terror. to those voyagers who persuade themselves that these solitary nations are formed to cringe and obey, and are unworthy of the benefits of our civilization.”

“The name of this island recals to the afflicted memory a terrible catastrophe, which deprived Europe and the world of the most enterprising genius who, since the days of Columbus, had rendered himself illustrious, by the boldest researches and the most glorious discoveries.”

“Cook perished at Owhyhee, the victim of his courage, and perhaps of his imprudence.”

“As soon as the danger became urgent, his enraged companions, consulting only their love for a chief who had so often guided them securely in the midst of perils, and more than once saved them from shipwreck, gave themselves up to all the ardour which could possibly animate them …”

“… and in the midst of the carnage, which their deadly weapons made among the intrepid natives, they saw their captain fall; at the very moment when by his gestures he exhorted them to moderate their resentment.”

“His mutilated corpse was committed to the ocean he had conquered, and no lasting monument points out to the navigator the exact spot where he perished.”

“The narrative of his brave successor has consecrated the point between Kayakakooa and Karakakooa; but the eye looks in vain for the cenotaph which should immortalize the memory of this deplorable event.”

“The navigator cannot possibly separate the name of Cook from that Of Owhyhee; as the name of Leonidas recals Thermopylae; as the field of Pharsalia reminds us of Caesar.”

“In this savage country, the tomb of Cook is sought for, like that of Achilles in classic Greece; with this difference, that the former was illustrated by recent and extraordinary events, while the latter is indebted for his glory to the verses of a poet even greater than himself.

“It is certain that the Spaniard Gaetano was the first European who, in 1542, discovered the Sandwich Islands. Cook himself discovered there certain indications of the residence of Europeans; and the terror which the natives manifested at fire-arms, proved clearly that they were not unacquainted with them.”

“Motives for the silence and discretion of Gaetano may be easily discovered.”

“All the west coast of America was infested with pirates; and only successful captures, or a long voyage round Cape Horn, could enable them to supply themselves with provisions.”

“Gaetano, after having made the discovery of this Archipelago, clearly saw, that if he gave it publicity, it would become the rendezvous of these outcasts of the sea, who already impeded but too much the commerce of his country.”

“This politic motive, and his wise foresight, induced him, in the chart which he published some time afterwards, to place the Sandwich Islands at ten degrees distance, both of latitude and longitude, from their real situation …”

“… thus, with the consent of Charles Vth, he fixed them at the 9th and 11th degrees, instead of the 19th and 21st; and the wars which Spain was obliged to carry on against France having directed her attention to other objects, no interest, it seems, was at first attached to the discovery of Gaetano.”

“Finally, that celebrated man, who by his courage and perseverance had already conferred honour on his country by so many giorious undertakings, re-discovered this Archipelago in his third voyage and gave it the name of the minister who had so generously protected him.”

“Alas! this unfortunate man was no doubt at that time proud of the success of his researches.”

All is from ‘Narrative of a Voyage Round the World’ by Jacques Arago (March 6, 1790 – November 27, 1855), a French writer, artist and explorer who joined Louis de Freycinet on his 1817 voyage around the world aboard the ship Uranie.

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Spanish_Galleon-past-Puna-(HerbKane)

August 5, 2018 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Wreck of the Bering

“Russians – or explorers hired by Russians – were curious about northeastern Asia and the American continent, wanting to know if the two were connected.”

“As early as 1648 Simeyon Dezhnev had passed through what would become known as Bering Strait ad into the Bering Sea. Dezhnev had discovered there was no land connection between Asia and America”.

“In 1728 Vitus Bering, a Dane in the service of Russia, sailed the same area, but at no time coming or going did he sight the American continent through the fogs and mists.”

“In June 1741 Vitius Bering tried again in the ship St Peter. On this terribly trying trip he did see the American mainland, but did not go ashore. On his way south Bering was shipwrecked a d died of scurvy.”

“Those who survived constructed a small boat from the wreckage of the St Peter. James Cook later used some of Bering’s charts in searching for the Northwest Passage.”

“The greatest commotion involving Bering’s second voyage did not result from the American continent, but rather from a book published by a German, George Steller, who was a naturalist aboard the St Peter.”

“In his book Steller gave the first descriptions of four previously unknown marine mammals – the fur seal, the sea otter, the sea lion and the sea cow.”

“The revelation of the existence of these creatures in large numbers brought Russian trappers, hunters and adventurers to the Aleutian Islands, to Alaska and down the Northwest Coast of America. Because of the profitable trade involved, the Russian American Company was founded.”

“In 1790 Alexander Baranov was named manager of the Russian American Company and was appointed governor of Russian America. … “

“The Russians would have preferred to keep the fur trade to themselves, but that was impossible … they could not guard the extensive coast … (and) the Russians received supplies on an irregular basis from ports far away. … The first Russian ships to visit Hawaii came in 1804.” (Joesting)

“From American and British traders who visited both the Russian settlements and Hawaii, the governor of the Russian company, Alexander Baranov, learned something about the resources and convenient location of the islands, and Kamehameha learned something about the needs of the Russians.”

“The general situation was obviously favorable to a useful commerce between the two places. Russian ships first visited the islands in 1804. but were not seen by Kamehameha.”

“A year or two afterwards. the latter made known to Baranov that he would “gladly send a ship every year with swine, salt. batatas [sweet potatoes], and other articles of food, if [the Russians] would in exchange let him have sea-otter skins at a fair price.” (Kuykendall)

“Shortly after, Baranov sent out (two) expeditions, American and British traders became embroiled in the War of 1812. With American and British ships pitted against one another, Baranov saw an opportunity for profit. Several American traders chose to sell their ships to Baranov at reduced prices rather than face the possibility that their ships would be captured or sunk.”

“Baranov had few available navigators, however, so American captains often continued to sail the vessels under contact to the RAC.”

“Baranov bought the Atahualpa and another ship, the Lydia, in exchange for twenty thousand sealskins in December 1813. The Atahualpa was renamed the Bering, after the leader of the first Russian expedition to reach Alaska. Its American captain, James Bennett, remained in command and sailed to Okhotsk to pick up the furs that were being used to buy the ship.” (Mills)

“The Bering sailed to Hawaii in late 1814 for a load of provisions destined for the North American colonies. After making stops at Kauai, Maui and Oahu, the ill-fated vessel made one land stop at Waimea, Kauai, on January 30, 1815.”

“At 3 am the next morning, the ship ran aground in Waimea Bay during a gale. The shipwrecked men were stranded on Kauai for more than two months, eventually receiving passage off the island on April 11, 1815 … Kauai islanders, under the rule of paramount chief Kaumuali‘i, retained the ship’s goods, including its cargo of furs”.

“It appears that Captain Bennett was livid about the whole affair. He proceeded to Sitka and advised Baranov to use force to retrieve the cargo. Baranov, however, chose diplomacy over force, sending Georg Anton Schäffer to Hawai’i on the American ship Isabella to resolve the situation.” (Mills)

Later that year, Schäffer arrived in Honolulu. Schäffer began building a fort and raised the Russian flag. When Kamehameha discovered this, he sent several of his men to remove the Russians from O‘ahu, by force, if necessary. The Russians judiciously chose to sail for Kaua‘i, instead of risking bloodshed.

Once on Kauai, Schäffer gained the confidence of King Kaumuali‘i, when he promised the king that the Russian Tsar would help him to break free of Kamehameha’s rule.

In 1817, however, it was discovered that Schäffer did not have the support of the Russian Tsar. He was forced to leave Hawai‘i, and Captain Alexander Adams, a Scotsman who served in the navy of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i, raised the Kingdom of Hawai‘i flag over the fort in October 1817.

Eventually, over-hunting greatly diminished the number of sea otters and fur seals in the North Pacific. By the 1850s, New Archangel, which once owed its existence to the fur trade depended instead on a shipyard, a fish saltery, sawmills and an ice-exporting business.

The RAC and the Russian government no longer profited from the colony, instead focusing their main commercial activities on tea importing. The Crimean War highlighted Russian America’s vulnerability to attack by other European nations.

The Tsar decided to sell in 1867 rather than lose the territory in another war. The US States bought Alaska for $7.2 million, or approximately 2 cents per acre, and Russia ended its 126-year-old North American enterprise. (NPS)

atahualpa-bering

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.)

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.