Hawaii. The indigenous population had shrunk from 500,000 at Cook’s arrival in 1779 to just 84,000, due to epidemics of typhus, gonorrhea, syphilis, tuberculosis, and influenza. In 1853, smallpox arrived, killing another 10,000 of the survivors.
Hawaii. The indigenous population had shrunk from 500,000 at Cook’s arrival in 1779 to just 84,000, due to epidemics of typhus, gonorrhea, syphilis, tuberculosis, and influenza. In 1853, smallpox arrived, killing another 10,000 of the survivors.