|
{{B}}Captain Cook Arrow Legend{{/B}} It was a great legend while it lasted, but DNA testing has{{U}} (51) {{/U}}ended a two-century-old story of the Hawaiian arrow carved from the bone of British explorer Captain James Cook{{U}} (52) {{/U}}died in the Sandwich Islands in 1779. "There is{{U}} (53) {{/U}}Cook in the Australian Museum," museum collection manager Jude Philip said not long ago in announcing the DNA evidence that the arrow was not made of Cook's bone. But that will not stop the museum from continuing to display the arrow in its{{U}} (54) {{/U}}"Uncovered: Treasures of the Australian Museum," which{{U}} (55) {{/U}}include a feather cape presented to Cook by Hawaiian King Kalani 'opu'u in 1778. Cook was one of Britain's great explorers and is credited with{{U}} (56) {{/U}}the "Great South Land,"{{U}} (57) {{/U}}Australia, in 1770. He was clubbed to death in the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii. The legend of Cook's arrow began in 1824{{U}} (58) {{/U}}Hawah'an King Kamehameha on his. deathbed gave the arrow m William Adams, a London surgeon and relative of Cook's wife, saying it was made of Cook's bone after the fatal{{U}} (59) {{/U}}with islanders. In the 1890s the arrow was given to the Australian Museum and the legend continued{{U}} (60) {{/U}}it came face-to-face with science. DNA testing by laboratories in Australia and New Zealand revealed the arrow was not made of Cook's bone but was more{{U}} (61) {{/U}}made of animal bone, said Philp. However, Cook's fans{{U}} (62) {{/U}}to give up hope that one Cook legend will prove true and that part of his remains will still be uncovered, as they say there is evidence not all of Cook's body was{{U}} (63) {{/U}}at sea in 1779. "On this occasion technology has won," said Cliff Thornton, president of the Captain Cook Society, in a{{U}} (64) {{/U}}from Britain. "But I am{{U}} (65) {{/U}}that one of these days ...one of the Cook legends will prove to be true and it will happen one day." |