S1-E48: Nomuka: Captain Cook's Wrath

After leaving the fertile coral island of Namocka, Cook and Forster sail into volcanic mists and human silences. What begins as bounty ends in acid rain, and a year of new discoveries begins.

The Friendly Islands are lush, the trade is generous, and Namocka seems like a vision of paradise—breadfruit orchards, fragrant vines, and well-fed pigs roaming free. But as the Resolution lifts anchor, new tensions and wonders await. A volcano smolders on Tofua, and when its rain stings the sailors' eyes, Georg Forster unwittingly documents one of history’s first encounters with acid rain.

As the canoes grow smaller on the waves behind them, HMS Resolution leaves Namocka—an island of breadfruit groves and unspoken hierarchies—sailing toward fire-lit horizons and the unknown. – Click on the image to listen to this episode on YouTube.

They press westward. A new island is sighted—Turtle-Eyland—but its reefs keep them out. On Aurora and the so-called Isle of Lepers (Ambae), steep cliffs, waterfalls, and towering coconut palms greet them. Painted islanders shout unknown words from canoes, but refuse to board the ship.

Volcano Island of Tofua

As they enter a volcanic arc of islands unknown to any European map, hopes rise for discoveries to come. The two-year mark of their voyage is met with hymns, grog, and uneasy reflections. Soon they will step into lands no other navigator has recorded—where smoke on the mountains hints at fire within.