Tonga became known in the West as the "Friendly Islands" because of the congenial reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit in 1773. He arrived at the time of the annual ''ʻinasi'' festival, which centres on the donation of the First Fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga (the islands' monarch), and so he received an invitation to the festivities. Ironically, according to the writer William Mariner, the political leaders actually wanted to kill Cook during the gathering but did not go through with it because they could not agree on a plan of action for accomplishing it.