Proceeding to the northward, Captain Cook ascertained the relative
position of the two continents, Asia and America, whose extremities he
observed. On the 18th they were close to a dense wall of ice, beyond
which they could not penetrate. The ice here was from ten to twelve feet
high, and seemed to rise higher in the distance. A prodigious number of
sea-horses were crouching on the ice, some of which were procured for
food. Captain Cook continued to traverse these icy seas till the 29th.
He then explored the coasts in Behring's Strait both in Asia and
America; and on October 2 again anchored at Oonalaska to refit; and here
they had communication with some Russians, who undertook to convey
charts and maps, etc., to the English Admiralty, which they faithfully
fulfilled. On the 26th the ships quitted the harbor of Samganoodah, and
sailed for the Sandwich Islands, Captain Cook purposing to remain there
a few months, and then return to Kamtschatka. The island of Mowee was
discovered on November 26; and on the 30th they fell in with another,
called by the natives Owyhee (now Hawaii); and being of large extent,
the ships were occupied nearly seven weeks in sailing round it, and
examining the coast; and they found the islanders more frank and free
from suspicion than any they had yet had intercourse with; so that on
January 16, 1779, there were not fewer than a thousand canoes about the
two ships, most of them crowded with people, and well-laden with hogs
and other productions of the place. A robbery having been committed,
Captain Cook ordered a volley of musketry and four great guns to be
fired over the canoe that contained the thief; but this seemed only to
astonish the natives, without creating any great alarm. On the 17th the
ships anchored in a bay called by the islanders, Karakakooa. The natives
constantly thronged to the ships, whose decks, consequently, being at
all times crowded, allowed of pilfering without fear of detection; and
these practices, it is conjectured, were encouraged by the chiefs. A
great number of the hogs purchased were killed and salted down so
completely, that some of the pork was good at Christmas, 1780. On the
26th, Captain Cook had an interview with Terreeoboo, King of the
islands, in which great formality was observed, and an exchange of
presents took place, as well as an exchange of names. The natives were
extremely respectful to Cook; in fact, they paid him a sort of
adoration, prostrating the