VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED

Exploring the fateful expeditions of Captain Cook.

- ELIZABETH KOLBERT

On Valentine's Day, 1779, Captain On King Kalani'ōpu'u to visit his ship, the Resolution. Cook and the King were on friendly terms, but, on this particular day, Cook planned to take Kalani'ōpu'u hostage. Some of the King's subjects had stolen a small boat from Cook's fleet, and the captain intended to hold Kalani'ōpu'u until it was returned. The plan quickly went awry, however, and Cook ended up face down in a tidal pool.

At the time of his death, Cook was Britain's most celebrated explorer. In the course of three epic voyages-the last one, admittedly, unfinished-he had mapped the east coast of Australia, circumnavigated New Zealand, made the first documented crossing of the Antarctic Circle, "discovered" the Hawaiian Islands, paid the first known visit to South Georgia Island, and attached names to places as varied as New Caledonia and Bristol Bay. Wherever Cook went, he claimed land for the Crown.