When it came to barter, the German Georg Forster, Cook’s naturalist on his second voyage around the globe, expressed clear preferences among the Māori:
“they did not notice beads, ribbons, white paper, &e but were very eager after iron, nails, and hatchets; a proof that the intrinsic value of these tools cannot fail to make an impression on the minds of this people in the long run ….”
That British’ visits to Aotearoa/New Zealand without a Polynesian escort such as Tupaia could still be disastrous was testified by Cook’s escort officer James Burney on the second circumnavigation. Cook’s ship, the Adventure, was separated from his escort ship, the Resolution, by a hurricane in late 1773 and left alone in Queen Charlotte Sound (Māori: Tōtaranui) on New Zealand’s South Island. On this occasion, eleven of Burney’s comrades fell victim to Māori cannibalism. “Such a shocking scene of Carnage & Barabarity,” James Burney noted.
However, his further research in Grass Cove (Wharehunga Bay), the scene of the drama, revealed that the British sailors fired first, triggering the Polynesians’ counterattack. In fact, during Captain Cook’s visits to New Zealand, there were repeated deadly clashes in which more than a dozen Māori, including high-ranking clan chiefs (ariki), were killed.