William Pascoe Crook

An account of the Marquesas islands 1797-1799

Haere po

Papeete, 2007

bibliothèque insulaire

   
édité à Tahiti

livres sur les Marquises
parutions 2007
An account of the Marquesas islands 1797-1799 / William Pascoe Crook ; with forewords by Greg Dening, H.-M. Le Cleac'h, an editorial note, a short biography by Douglas Peacocke, a preliminary discourse by Samuel Greatheed, and observations made during a voyage to the Marquesas islands by captain James Wilson in the Duff (1797), captain Josiah Roberts in the Hope (1791), captain Edmund Fanning in the Betsey (1798) and Edward Robarts (1799), with a letter by Crook, and Instructions and Reports by the L.M.S. ; ill. with charts, portraits of persons of that time, and new maps drawn by Andreas Dettloff. - Papeete : Haere po, 2007. - 205 p.-[16] pl. : ill., cartes ; 30 cm.
ISBN 2-904171-66-2
NOTE DE L'ÉDITEUR : On the 7th of june 1797, when William Pascoe Crook disembarked from the Duff onto the Marquesan island of Tahuata, he had just turned 22 years of age. At that time, the society which took him in was a traditional one, forced to deal with the natural disaster of drought and its ensuing famine, and the new products brought for trade by western travellers, whalers and beachcombers — particularly alcohol and firearms.

Because he took the trouble to learn to speak their language, Crook became an important witness to these first contacts, as well as to the new everyday lifestyle of the Marquesans, their customs and their aspirations — and their restistance to foreign ideas.

In his Account, Crook reports the words of Kiatonui, one of the main chiefs of the island of Nukuhiva, who exclaimed, « How can Mr Crook claim to know God, when he cannot even tell one tree from another ? »

The originality and insight of this Account of the Marquesas Islands (published now for the first time in a bilingual english and french edition) have been enhanced both by contemporary testimonies concerning Crook's  adventure and by today's prefaces by professor Greg Dening and His Grace Bishop Le Cleac'h.

In the Pacific, the shock from the meeting of cultures in the 18th century continues to make waves into the 21st.
CONTENTS Forewords
  • Introduction (Greg Dening)
  • Foreword (Mgr H.-M. Le Cleac'h)
  • Editorial note (Robert Koenig)
  • William Pascoe Crook, a short biography (Douglas Peacocke)
  • Preliminary Discourse in A Missionary Voyage (Samuel Greatheed)
  • Bringing Crook to the Marquesas (captain James Wilson of the Duff)
William Pascoe Crook, An Account of the Marquesas Islands 1797-1799

Afterwords
  • Discovery and description of the Marquesas (captain Josiah Roberts, 1795)
  • Crook aboard the Betsey (captain Edmund Fanning, May 1798)
  • Crook's letter to the Directors of the L.M.S. (May 1798)
  • Instructions from the Directors of the L.M.S. to Capt. Robson of the Duff for her second Missionary Voyage (November 1798)
  • Robarts discovers Crook's belongings at Tahuata (January 1799)
  • Robarts description of turmeric industries
  • Crook returns to London (May 1799)
  • Glossary of Tribes cited in the Account
  • List of Marquesan personal names cited in the Account
  • List of real or supposed islands known to the Marquesans
  • General index of the Account
Illustrations
Bibliography
Aknowledgements
COMPLÉMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE

mise-à-jour : 18 avril 2008

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