Captain James Cook

	James Cook, the great explorer

Whitby's most famous son is probably Captain James Cook, the explorer who put Australia on the map (but failed to notice Sydney Harbour!), circled New Zealand and was killed on Hawaii.

2019 was the anniversay of his discovery of New Zealand and the local Maoris were up in arms because, apparently, he killed a couple of them when he landed. Whether he was justified in doing so I am not in a position to judge - but neither, I suspect, are they. The Maoris did have a habit of killing and eating strangers, so they are hardly the totally innocent and wronged natives they would like to claim.

I made some comment to this effect on an on-line forum once and was immediately attacked by a pakeha (white man) in New Zealand who accused me of all sorts of bias and prejudice. A couple of years later I returned to New Zealand - where I was born - for a visit and on the evening of our arrival there was a panel discussion on the television with three Maori elders who vociferously defended cannibalism because "it was for cultural reasons". I'm sure that made the poor chap boiling away in the pot feel ever so much better!