James Cook: Biography Captain James Cook, commissioned by King
George III, discovered the Hawaiian Islands in January, 1778.
Learn more! Captain James Cook, commissioned by King George III,
discovered the Hawaiian Islands in January, 1778. After
discovering Christmas Island a month earlier on his third voyage
into the Pacific, he sighted several turtles and birds in the
air, which were sure signs of land, and then the island of Oahu,
Kauai, and Niihau. The natives greeted the ships in canoes
wishing to trade roasted pigs, potatoes, and small fish for
anything metal, which they formed into weapons. Anchoring at
Waimea Bay, Cook landed with his surgeon's mate and an artist,
John Webber. Everywhere they went, the natives lay down with
their faces to the ground in adoration. Cook had arrived during
the Makahiki Season, a festive season in which taxes were
collected, people rested from their normal labors and war was
'kapu'(forbidden). The Hawaiians believed Cook to be the
reincarnation of their God, Lono, whose s