Captain Cook Arrow Legend
It was a great legend while it lasted, but DNA testing has finally ended a two-century-old story of the Hawaiian arrow carved from the bone of British explore Captain James Cook who died in the Sandwich Islands in 1779.
"There is no Cook in the Australian Museum," museum collection manager Jude Philip said not long ago in announcing the DNA evidence that the arrow was not made of Cook's bone. But that will not stop the museum from continuing to display the arrow in its exhibition, "Uncovered: Treasures of the Australian Museum," which does include a feather cape presented to Cook by Hawaiian King Kalani'opu'u in 1778.
Cook was one of Britain's great explorers and is credited with discovering the "Great South Land" now Australia, in 1770. He was clubbed to death in the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii.
The legend of Cook's arrow began in 1824 when Hawaiian King Kamehameha on his deathbed gave the arrow to William Adams, a London surgeon and relative of Cook's wife, saying it was made of Cook's bone after the fatal fight with islanders.
In the 1890s the arrow was given to the Australian Museum and the legend continued until it came face-to-face with science.
DNA testing by laboratories in Australia and New Zealand revealed the arrow was not made of Cook's bone but was more likely made of animal bone, said Philp.
However, Cook's fans refuse to give up hope that one Cook legend will prove true and that part of his remains will still be uncovered, as they say there is evidence not all of Cook's body was buried at sea in 1779. "On this occasion technology has won," said Cliff Thornton, president of the Captain Cook Society, in a statement from Britain. "But I am sure that one of these days ... one of the Cook legends will prove to be true and it will happen one day." [理工类C]
库克船长弓箭的传说
这本是个绝妙的传说，但DNA测试最终结束了这个长达两个世纪之久的古老故事。传说是关于一支据说是用1779年在桑伟奇群岛死去的英国探险家船长詹姆士·库克的遗骨刻成的夏威夷弓箭。
在不久前DNA证据宣布该弓箭并非来自于库克船长的遗骨时，澳大利亚博物馆收藏经理尤帝·菲利普说：“澳大利亚博物馆里并没有库克的遗骨。”但这并不能停止博物馆在展览会上展出弓箭。“考古发现：澳大利亚博物馆的宝藏”展览中的确还展示了一个在1778年夏威夷国王卡兰尼欧普送给库克的一个羽毛斗篷。
库克是英国最伟大的探险家之一，他在1770年发现了“南大陆”，也就是现在的澳大利亚。此后在桑伟奇群岛被棒击致死。
库克弓箭传说始于1824年，当时夏威夷国王卡在弥留之际将弓箭赐给了库克妻子的亲戚，一名伦敦外科医生威廉·亚当斯，并告诉他弓箭是在那次致命殴打后用库克的遗骨做成的。
在19世纪90年代，弓箭被交给澳大利亚博物馆。这个传说直到与科学直接接触才停止。
据菲利普说，澳大利亚和新西兰的试验室的DNA测试证实弓箭并非取材于库克的遗骨，而更可能来自动物的骨头。
但是，库克迷们却不肯放弃希望。他们期待库克传说之一将会被证明是正确，并且他的部分遗骨还会被发现。正如他们所说，有证据表明库克的遗骨并不是在1779年全都葬身大海了。库克船长协会的会长克利夫·托马森在一个来自英国的声明中说：“在这个问题上，科技取得了胜利。我坚信某一天库克传说之一将会被证明是真的。”[理工类]