I recently read the biography "Captain James Cook" by Rob Mundle. It tells the compelling story of Cook's life and the wonder of his various excursions into the unknown. It's a highly recommended read which at times perfectly captures the profound amazement and hair-raising astonishment. with which these intrepid 18th-century pioneers stepped into the annals of history. It is decked with stories of mystique, awe and perhaps unsurprisingly a large portion of cannibalism.
One such tale occurs when HMS Adventure was anchored in "ship's cove" for repairs. Ten sailors were sent out in a cutter to find "wild greens" for the ship's larder and were instructed to return by the afternoon but by the next morning, they still had not arrived and were becoming the source of considerable anxiety. Second Lieutenant Mr Burney and ten marines were instructed to investigate and after an hour of searching, they found a large double-hulled canoe, two natives and a dog who retreated into the woods when they saw the men. They found a shoe and some meat which Mr Burney described as fresh having sniffed it and believed it to be "dog flesh".
A little further down the beach, they found some food baskets, it was here where James Burney made a ghastly discovery, the baskets contained the hacked-up and freshly cooked remains of human bodies. Identified as the missing party by a hand with a distinctive tattoo- the initials T.H. One Thomas Hill.
They continued to another cove where they were confronted by around 400 mauris who mocked and taunted the party. Scattered around were the sailors' remains some still cooking on the fires. They gathered up some of these body parts as evidence and then left. Mr Burney made the report to ships master Tobias Furneaux in his own words "The heads, hearts, lungs of many of our men were laying on the beach and some dogs were devouring their guts."
"carried aboard both hands; one was that of Mr Rowe; the other was that of Thomas Hill, and the head was that of servant of captain. These remains, with others that are joined, were tied in a hammock and thrown into the sea with ballast and weight balls heavy enough to make them fall to the bottom. We found no weapons or clothes, except trousers, a blouse and six mismatched shoes. “ They hurriedly weighed anchor and put to sea.
