Capt. James Cook & William Hodges in Vanuatu

Sparkling waters push a coconut further up the coarse, reddish sands. Pink-tinged Barringtonia flowers add a splash of colour to the leaf debris flotsam of the high-tide mark. Palms sway in the gentle tropical zephyrs that blow in off the blue Pacific.

Barringtonia flowers on the beach at Malekula

The beach is deserted except for a couple of figures at the waters edge at the far end of the beach. All is serenity, so far from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. The coconut will, perhaps, sprout & eventually add to the swaying verdant fringe of this pristine shore.

Sanaliu Beach, Malekula

This is a scene that would be recognised by Captain James Cook, as he sailed down this coast, on his second voyage of discovery, in the Resolution in 1774. Cook was in need of fresh provisions and no doubt his men looked longingly at the pristine beaches, seeing the natives who waded into the warm waters waving green branches, a sign of greeting, to the European intruders. Eventually a safe anchorage was found in what Cook named Port Sandwich, at the southern end of Malekula.  The British sailors’ first encounter with the Malekulans was tenuous to say the least. Initial tolerance soon turned to intolerance: the Malekulans believed the Europeans to be the ghosts of their ancestors, who could sometimes be malevolent, and in return the Europeans did not understand the Malekulans attitude to private possessions. Tensions became strained and the uncertainty of Cook’s landing was accurately captured by his onboard artist, William Hodges, in a colourful canvas entitled ’Landing at Mallicolo’. Firearms are displayed by Cook’s men while one or two Malekulans brandish spears.

Landing at Mallicollo by William Hodges  1744-1797

          William Hodges is, perhaps, the most under estimated landscape painter of the 18^th century. As he was on Cook’s 2^nd voyage of discovery he was under contract to the British Admiralty, so many of his magnificently coloured paintings of the 18^th century Pacific remained, for many years, in the Admiralty archives. For that reason,Hodges was relatively unknown even in his time, a sentiment admirably described by his friend, the poet William Hayley, on his epitaph:   
                       

 “Ye men of genius, join’d to moral worth,

                           Whose merits meet no just rewards on earth.'

                             “ To active Hodges, who with zeal sublime

                                 Pursued the art, he lov’d, in every clime;

                                 Who early traversing the globe with Cook,

                                 Painted new life from nature’s latent book.”

          As Cook sailed on through other islands in Vanuatu,  which he named the New Hebrides, Hodges conscientiously recorded the landings. On Erromanga, Cook’s reception was hostile and led to the death of several locals.

Landing at Erramanga by William Hodges

The Williams River on Erromanga, named after the Missionary John Williams who was killed her in 1839

Cook did not stay at Erromanga and as he sailed south, passing Aniwa, he and his men noticed what seemed to be a large fire on an island to the south-west. By the time Cook sailed into the bay he named Port Resolution, he had realised that what they had seen was, in fact, the volcanic fires of Mt Yasur.

A recent photo of the eruptions on Mt Yasur, island of Tanna

As on other islands, Cook’s reception on Tanna was initially tense, and the ship’s cannon had to be fired several times to warn off the natives. An added complication was the realisation by Cook’s men that the islanders had several distinct languages and that there was little relationship and co-operation between each tribe. There are 110 distinct languages in Vanuatu and 3 extinct languages.

          William Hodges detailed Cook’s landing at Port Resolution in a canvas utilising magnificently the atmospheric effects of bright tropical sunlight & the dark brooding smoky fires of Mt Yasur, which forms the backdrop to Cook‘s confrontation with the Tannese.

Cautious Landing at Tanna by William Hodges

 If Cook was to return to Tanna  today he would immediately recognise the fires of Mt Yasur, which still dominate the southern area of the island, periodically blowing mineral-rich volcanic ash across the island, adding the  natural fertilizer which nourishes  the excellent Arabica coffee trees that  grow on Tanna, producing one of the world‘s best coffees.

William Hodges was also to paint the first images of Easter Island and some of the first oil paintings of Tahiti and New Zealand.  Hodges story and photos are admirably illustrated in the book, William Hodges 1744-1797: the Art of Exploration published by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. 
 © Neil Rawlins  text & photography

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