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ten British seamen from the Adventure in 1773 during the course of the present voyage should
also be added to the list, the full details of which were not known to the crew of the Resolution
until their return journey to England. In this case, the crew of a small boat were sent to Grass
Cove (Whareunga Bay) in search of celery and scurvy-grass under the command of John Rowe, a
man itching to pick a fight with the Maori. It was here that all the Europeans present were killed
and eaten by the locals after an altercation between the two. Forster, however, shows a typical
non-British viewpoint with little sympathy for Rowe’s cavalier approach to natives:
Dieser unglückliche junge Mann hatte, bey einer sonst guten Denkungsart, die Vorurtheile der
seemännischen Erziehung noch nicht völlig abgelegt. Er sahe z. E. alle Einwohner der Südsee mit
einer Art von Verachtung an, und glaubte eben dasselbe Recht über sie zu haben, welches sich, in
barbarischen Jahrhunderten, die Spanier über das Leben der amerikanischen Wilden anmaaßten.
(II:348)
Thus, responsibility for the deaths is firmly placed on the shoulders of the Europeans, which,
however, does not soften the blow of their loss. Reportedly one of the Maori stole a sailor’s jacket
and was met with musket fire from all quarters, which “so lange damit fortgefahren, bis die
Matrosen kein Pulver mehr gehabt”:
Als die Eingebohrnen dies inne geworden, wären sie auf die Europäer zugerannt, und hätten
selbige bis auf den letzten Mann erschlagen. Da mir selbst erinnerlich ist, daß Herr Rowe immer
zu behaupten pflegte, die Neu-Seeländer würden das Feuer unserer Musketerie nicht aushalten,
wenn es einmal zum Schlagen käme; so kann es ganz wohl seyn, daß er bey dieser Gelegenheit
einen Versuch dieser Art habe anstellen wollen. (II:349)
In fact, this scene could almost have occurred earlier if it were not for the intervention of another
officer. In spite of the neither “verrätherisch” nor “menschenfeindlich” (II:355) character of the
Maori, conflict always had the potential to escalate, especially when arrogant Europeans and their
guns were involved and where no differentiation was made between different tribal groups, all of
which resulted in open retaliation.
Although unaware of the finer details of these killings at the time of the Resolution’s third
visit to Queen Charlotte Sound, apart from later contradictory and ambiguous reports from
various Maori that a battle took place with Europeans and a number of deaths resulted, the crew
find the cove deserted of local Maori, and when some are eventually spotted they are very
hesitant and unsure of themselves, as if expecting some form of retribution which does not
eventuate. However, looking back, Forster cannot speak more highly of their courage when
facing fear:
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