Captain Cook was invited to the hula on Big Island and noted the unusual leg ornament in his journal: “There is also an ornament made of shells, fastened in rows on a ground of strong netting, so as to strike each other when in motions; which both men and women, when they dance, tie … below the knee.”
For James Cook, the sound of the knee rattle at the hula in Kealakekua Bay on Big Island in January 1779 was one of his last experiences before he attempted to take hostage a number of high Hawai'ian ali‘i in order to retrieve a stolen ship’s boat. Then, as he retreated, he opened fire on warriors approaching from the island and was stabbed to death as a result. The victorious ali'i, including Kamehameha, later the first King of Hawai'i, had Cook’s bones cleaned and divided them among themselves according to rank in order to acquire the mana of the prestigious British sailor.