ere not paying to him the
ordinary homage which they were accustomed to pay to every great chief
who visited their island.

He found the old king just awakening from sleep, and, after a short
conversation about the loss of the cutter, the captain invited him to
return in the boat and spend the day on board the _Resolution_. The
king readily consented, but while on his way to the beach one of his
wives, who evidently suspected treachery, besought him with many tears
not to go on board. At the same time, two of his chiefs laid hold of
him, and, insisting that he should go no farther, forced him to sit
down. The natives had by this time collected in prodigious numbers, and
the Englishmen were so surrounded that it would have been impossible for
them to use their arms if any occasion had required it. Captain Cook,
therefore, was obliged to give up his efforts to induce the old king to
go on board.

As yet the captain had not expected or feared any attempt at personal
violence, and it is probable that he would have succeeded in coming off
scatheless on this occasion, as he had done many a time before, had not
an unfortunate incident occurred, which gave a fatal turn to the affair.
The boats of the ship, which had been stationed across the bay, fired
at some canoes that were attempting to escape, and unfortunately killed
a chief of the first rank. The news of his death reached the village
just as Captain Cook was leaving the king, and the excitement occasioned
was very great. One evidence that the natives meant to be revenged was
that all the women and children were immediately sent off, and they made
their intention still more apparent by putting on their war-mats, and
arming themselves with spears and stones. Just before this, however,
the nine marines had been ordered to extricate themselves from the crowd
and line the rocks along the shore.

One of the natives having a stone in one hand, and a long iron spike in
the other, came up to the captain in a defiant manner, flourishing his
weapon, and threatening to throw the stone. Cook told him to desist,
but he persisted in his threatening actions, and at length provoked the
captain to fire a charge of small-shot into him, having on his war-mat,
however, it had no other effect than to stir up his wrath. Several
stones were now thrown at the marines, and a native attempted to stab
one of the party with his spear; in this, however, he failed, and was
knocked down wit