On 17th January they anchored in Karakakoa Bay, where large numbers of canoes laden with provisions for sale came out; Cook estimates that at one time there were no less than a thousand round the ship, their occupants entirely unarmed.  They soon proved to be adepts at thieving; one man stole the rudder of a boat, so Cook ordered a shot or two to be fired over the escaping thief, but “as it was not intended that any of the shot should take effect, the Indians seemed rather more surprised than frightened,” and the man got away.  The lids of the Resolution’s coppers were stolen, and the discovery had her rigging much cut about for the sake of the iron.  The decks were so crowded with the natives that Burney says it kept a quarter of the crew hard at work to make room for the working of the ship.

An insecure position.

The last entry made by Cook in his Ship’s Journal, and probably the last words he ever wrote, runs as follows: 

“Sunday 17.  Fine pleasant weather and variable faint breezes of wind.  In the evening Mr. Bligh returned and reported that he had found a bay in which was good anchorage and fresh water, tolerable easy to come at.  Into this bay I resolved to go to refit the ships and take in water.  As the night approached, the Indians retired to the shore, a good [many] however desired to sleep on board, curiosity was not their only motive, at least not with some of them, for the next morning several things were missing, which determined me not to entertain so many another night.  At 11 A.M. anchored in the bay which is called by the natives [a blank, filled in by another hand, Karakakoa] in 13 fathoms of water over a sandy bottom, and a quarter of a mile from the North-East shore.  In this situation the South point of the bay bore South 1/4 West, and the North point West 1/4 South.  Moored with the stream anchor to the Northward.  Unbent the sails and struck yards and topmasts.  The ships very much crowded with Indians and surrounded by a multitude of canoes.  I have nowhere in this sea seen such a number of people assembled at one place, besides those in the canoes, all the shore of the bay was covered with people and hundreds were swimming about the ships like shoals of fish.  We should have found it difficult to have kept them in order had not a chief or servant of Terreeoboo’s, named Parea, now and then [shown] his authority by turning or rather driving them all out of the ship.

“Among our numerous visitors was a man named Touahah, who we soon found belonged to the church; he introduced himself with much ceremony, in the course of which he presented me with a small pig, two coconuts and a piece of red cloth which he wrapped round me.  In this manner all or most of the chiefs introduced themselves, but this man went further, he brought with him a large hog and a quantity of fruits and roots, all of which he included in the present.  In the afternoon I went ashore to view the place accompanied by Touahah, Parea, Mr. King and others; as soon as we landed Touahah took me by the hand and conducted me to a large Morai, the other gentlemen with Parea, and four or five more of the natives followed.”