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Resolution
and Discovery off Waimea
Cook's accidental discovery of Paradise,
January 19, 1778
Artist/historian Raymond A. Massey
commemorates one of the most significant events in Pacific
history - the arrival of Captain Cook at Waimea on the island
of Kauai. The scene depicts the two vessels under the command
of Cook; The "H.M.S. Resolution" in the foreground
and "H.M.S. Discovery" closer to shore - surrounded
by Hawaiian canoes filled with curious onlookers.
Cook unexpectedly encountered the
Hawaiian Islands while enroute from Tahiti headed for the
Pacific Northwest. The Hawaiians believed that Cook was a
returning diety and treated him with appropriate reverence
consistent with their mythology.
After a brief stay in Hawaii, Cook
again set sail for his original destination, ultimately reaching
as far north as the vicinity of the Bering Strait. During
this voyage, Cook was able to disprove, the long-held theory
of a northwest water route connecting the Pacific ocean with
Hudson Bay.
Upon his return to Hawaii, in 1779,
Cook anchored at Kealakekua on the big island of Hawaii. The
island population greeted him as a god, but in the end killed
him as a man - ending the life of the greatest explorer of
his century, and perhaps of all time.
23 x 29.5 in. lithograph on canvas
- 275 edition
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