Horse Guards Parade

To the right, you can see the masts and rigging of the Admiralty on top of the building. The Admiralty is the entity that oversaw the explorations of Captain James Cook. From this place emanated scientific discovery, imperial competition, and doctrines such as terra nullius, which denied Indigenous presence on and title to the land. At the same time, Cook's experiences on his voyages were just as diverse as the people he encountered, ranging from diffidence to threat to peaceful trade to all-out violence, including his death at Kealakekua Bay in 1779. During his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific, Cook was killed when trying to detain Kalaniʻōpuʻu-a-Kaiamamao, the ruling chief of Hawai’i.