Don't be put off my using the journals of James Cook and Jean-Francois la Perouse - the two greatest navigators of not just the 18th century but of all time - to make a point about the human condition not changing just because most of us own a mobile phone, two billion own a car, a house, have disposable income - our nature doesn't change.
The reason Cook returned to his fated doom in Hawaii was a faulty mast that sprung apart, sold by a dishonest merchant. The legend has it he was killed after he kidnapped a chief as means to get back to his ship after the locals became hostile.
The cheating mast merchant and religious beliefs killed Cook, not as the politically correct version had it that he got what he deserved. The kidnapped chief was Cook's only way to safety, so he believed. Having just spent a very enjoyable several weeks there, getting a tearful farewell, he could not imagine any but another warm welcome on his return to get a new mast.
Unfortunate timing, as in his absence the happier festive time of Lono came to an end. The chiefs skulked off to the hills and the commoner chiefs took their place. Cook was called "Lono" by the natives. He came back to an entirely changed regime. Lesson: Do your homework on local culture.
La Perouse's two-ship expedition came across a people (the Ainu, though he did not know it) on the Russian mainland but close to Japan and Korea whom he considered the finest he'd ever met, of such high moral outlook that he was certain they had no concept of theft.
