Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/146

126 ships. Only two of our authorities, Boit and Dibble, make any reference to Kendrick and his brig and they are quite contradictory. Dibble says "Captain Brown interested himself in the war, but Captain Kendrick took no part in it." Boit on the other hand says that "a battle was fought & was gain'd by the King of Whahooa, by the assistance of Capt. Kendrick." It is quite impossible to reconcile the two statements and it is therefore necessary to accept one and reject the other or to leave the question unsettled. Although on the whole the weight of evidence seems to be against Kendrick's participation in the fighting, it will perhaps be best not to dogmatize on the subject. The question is of no importance for this study except as it bears on the history of Captain Brown.

After the victory of Kalanikupule, a victory won by the aid of Captain Brown and possibly also by the aid of Captain Kendrick, a salute was fired from the ships in the harbor. One of the saluting guns on the Jackal was, through an oversight, loaded with round and grape shot, and this shot passed through the Lady Washington, killing Captain Kendrick and several of his crew. The body of Kendrick was taken on shore for burial and the natives, who had never seen anything of the kind before, thought the prayer and burial service were "an act of sorcery to procure the death of Captain Brown." Shortly after this the Lady Washington sailed for Canton.

The Jackal and the Prince Lee Boo remained in the harbor and for a time the relations between the Englishmen and the Hawaiians seemed to be as friendly as ever. But toward the end of December a plot was formed among the natives for the seizure of the two vessels. As to the cause of this plot our authorities do not agree.