Artwork Information

Exploring the Waimea valley on Kauai in the Hawaii, Captain Cook, William Anderson and John Webber came across a heiau, a burial enclosure which recalled Tahitian marae, hence the title given to this print. Two prints were included in the Atlas of this discovery, demonstrating the extent of European interest in such religious and burial rites.

Cook described that a “Pyramid which they call [Henananoo] was erected at one end, it was 4 feet square at the base and about [20] feet high, the four sides was built of small sticks and branches, in an open manner…”. Depicted on the ground are carved boards marking graves, and at far left, the end of a long house.

(See J&S Vol. III, Text p.74, Cat. 3.171-3.174)