Post by Kiwi Frontline on Aug 6, 2019 6:22:36 GMT 12
Otago Daily Times 5/8/19
SALIENT TO HAVE CONTEXT CONCERNING COOK’S ACTIONS
IT was a relief to read cleareyed scholarship from Prof Erik Olssen (Opinion, 30.7.19) on questions surrounding Captain Cook’s arrival in New Zealand and his first encounters with Maori in Poverty Bay/Turangaanui.
One reality widely overlooked is that Cook was in command of a sailing ship just 98 feet (29m) long with a complement of 94 men, literally half a world from home, in totally unknown waters and arriving in a place where the character of its inhabitants could only be guessed at.
In these circumstances, Cook’s first and absolute priority was the security of his ship and men and any perceived hostile intentions towards them had to be met promptly.
In the Poverty Bay encounter, that led to conflict and death. It was a tragic event but it should not be used as a criterion to judge the reputation of the greatest British, and European, navigator of the 18th century.
PHILIP TEMPLE, Dunedin
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers
SALIENT TO HAVE CONTEXT CONCERNING COOK’S ACTIONS
IT was a relief to read cleareyed scholarship from Prof Erik Olssen (Opinion, 30.7.19) on questions surrounding Captain Cook’s arrival in New Zealand and his first encounters with Maori in Poverty Bay/Turangaanui.
One reality widely overlooked is that Cook was in command of a sailing ship just 98 feet (29m) long with a complement of 94 men, literally half a world from home, in totally unknown waters and arriving in a place where the character of its inhabitants could only be guessed at.
In these circumstances, Cook’s first and absolute priority was the security of his ship and men and any perceived hostile intentions towards them had to be met promptly.
In the Poverty Bay encounter, that led to conflict and death. It was a tragic event but it should not be used as a criterion to judge the reputation of the greatest British, and European, navigator of the 18th century.
PHILIP TEMPLE, Dunedin
sites.google.com/site/kiwifrontline/letters-submitted-to-newspapers