Towereroo
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Towereroo (1772? - d. unknown) was the first Hawai'ian to visit Europe. He was returned to Hawai'i by the Vancouver Expedition in 1792.
Towereroo was 16 years old when, in 1788, Captain Charles Duncan took him aboard the HMS Princess Royal as translator and passenger.[1] They voyaged to China where Towereroo was put on the HMS Prince of Wales. He befriended her commander James Johnstone and surgeon Archibald Menzies. When they reached England, Johnstone put him in school where he became a skilled caricaturist but never learned to read.
Menzies' patron Sir Joseph Banks hoped that Towereroo would be helpful to British ships visiting Hawai'i, so in 1791 he was put aboard HMS Discovery[2], along with Menzies and Johnstone. He assisted Menzies in exploring ashore and botanizing at Tenerife and, probably, elsewhere, making him probably the first Hawai'ian to visit South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
When the expedition reached Tahiti, Towereroo decided he preferred to stay and marry a local girl he had met. However, the Lords of the Admiralty had directed Vancouver to return him to Hawai'i, and Towereroo's wishes were not considered. The local chief, Pomurrey, protected Towereroo for a few days, but gave in to Vancouver's threats and returned the young adult to the British.
Once the expedition reached Hawai'i, it was discovered that Towereroo's home island of Molokai was enduring a famine, so they left him with Chief Kaiana and a few presents (which the chief promptly took.)
Little is recorded of this young man's fate, who in his time was the most far-travelled of Hawai'ians.
[edit] References
- ^ Naish, John (1996). The Interwoven Lives of George Vancouver, Archibald Menzies, Joseph Whidbey and Peter Puget: The Vancouver Voyage of 1791-1795. The Edward Mellen Press, Ltd.. ISBN 0-7734-8857-X.
- ^ Muster Table of His Majesties Sloop The Discovery. Admiralty Records in the Public Record Office, U.K. (1791). Retrieved on December 15, 2006.
