G.W.
New Bedford Whaling Ship 'Ocean Crest' taking on supplies at Kealakekua in Sandwich Islands 1842.
An evocative, likely imaginary, scene of a three-mast whaler at anchor in Hawaii’s infamous Kealakekua Bay during the peak years of the Pacific whale industry.
It was common for Polynesians and Hawaiians to welcome foreign ships of this size in open boats, scenes of which were depicted by William Hodges, John Webber and other notable voyage artists. Here we see the Ocean Crest surrounded by not just by Hawaiians but in the foreground there are two open boats, each seating five people in western dress. They might well be crew or passengers or simply traders at work in the busy bay. Hawaii’s first contact with the West resulted in the death of James Cook, then the world’s most famous explorer, in February 1779. In 1820, missionaries first arrived, and twenty years later Hawaii’s first constitution was passed.
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