The Trial of the Cannibal Dog: Captain Cook in the South Seas

In this rich and stylish description by New Zealand scholar Salmond, Cooks voyages take on a peculiar, dreamlike quality. Salmonds claim is that Cook was far more affected by his exposure to the Polynesian world than historians have thought. This book is fascinating as an incomparable travelogue filled with amazing stories - the sexual paradise of Tahiti, the discovery of Hawaii, close relations with Maori, and Cooks tragic death on the beach in Hawaii.The trial of the title followed a horrific incident in New Zealands Queen Charlotte Sound when Maori killed and ate a boatload of Cooks men. Later, sailors caught a dog guzzling a pink remnant, put the dog on trial, then convicted, cooked and ate it.