DNA shoots down Cook arrow legend

The arrow was passed to Cook's family by a Hawaiian king

DNA testing has ended the century-old claim that a Hawaiian arrow was carved from the bone of 18th-Century British explorer Captain James Cook.

The arrow, given to the Australian Museum in Sydney in the 1890s, has been accompanied by the legend since 1824.

But DNA testing by laboratories in New Zealand and Australia has revealed it was probably made from animal antler.

The arrow will stay on show in the museum - and Cook fans remain sure part of his remains will turn up one day.

Clubbed and stabbed

The arrow forms a part of the exhibition "Uncovered: Treasures of the Australian Museum", which includes a feather cape presented to Cook by Hawaiian King Kalani'opu'u in 1778.

The museum's collection manager Jude Philp confirmed on Thursday: "There is no Cook in the Australian Museum."

Cook, one of Britain's great explorers, is credited with discovering the 'Great South Land' - now Australia - in 1770.

The Yorkshire-born explorer's travels ended when he was clubbed and stabbed to death by a crowd of more than 1,000 warriors in the Sandwich Islands, now Hawaii, in 1779.

On this occasion technology has won Cliff Thornton, president of the Captain Cook Society

The legend of Cook's arrow began 45 years later when Hawaiian King Kamehameha, on his deathbed, gave the arrow to a relative of Cook's wife, William Adams.

The king told Mr Adams, a London surgeon, that it had been carved from Cook's bone after the skirmish with the Sandwich Islanders.

Cook's fans refuse to give up hope that at least one legend about him will prove to be true.

They believe part of his remains will be uncovered, claiming they have evidence not all of Cook's body was buried at sea in February 1779.

Cliff Thornton, president of the UK's Captain Cook Society, said: "On this occasion technology has won.

"But I am sure one of these days... one of the Cook legends will (prove) to be true and it will happen one day."