A quick aloha from Lua...

King Kalaniopu’u Welcoming Cook to Kealakekua Bay

Nine days after the Cook expedition anchored at Kealakekua Bay, the king arrived from Maui with his war fleet. Captain Cook was surprised to find that it was the same elderly chief he had met at sea off Maui almost two months earlier.

The next morning, the king cleared the bay of all canoes, then came out with three large canoes. The first carried the king and many chiefs, and was laden with brilliant feather capes.

The second carried priests and large feather-covered spirit images, and the third was heavily loaded with provisions. A stately procession was made around Cook’s ships, perhaps the most impressive spectacle the British had seen in the entire Pacific.