THE spear which killed legendary explorer Captain James Cook is expected to fetch up to £2,000 when it comes under the hammer later this month.

Edinburgh auction house Lyon and Turnbull is selling the weapon, which was handed down through the family of one of Cook's fellow naval officers, and fashioned into a walking stick, on March 26.

The stick, which bears the inscription ''From Adml. CBH Ross to Admiral Sir David Milne GCB. Made of the Spear that killed Captn. Cook R.N.'' on a silver band, has been valued at between £1,000 and £2,000.

Cook was killed, aged 50, by natives on the island of Hawaii on February 14, 1779, in what is believed to have been a revenge attack.

He was initially treated as a god when his ship, the Resolution, landed in Kealakekua Bay a month before.

But relations rapidly turned sour when Cook took a local dignitary hostage over petty thefts.

Cook's death came after another officer fired shots into a crowd of more than 1,000 locals who had gathered on a beach to confront the captain.

Navigation officer William Bligh, later the captain of the Bounty, on which his crew mutinied, recovered the spear and preserved it for posterity.

Cook was born in Marton, Middlesbrough, on October 20, 1728, the son of a farm labourer. He commanded his first ship, the Endeavour, in 1766.

His most famous voyages of discovery were made in the southern hemisphere, which saw him circumnavigate the South Pole and Australia in 1772, discovering and naming several islands on the way.

Cook was made a Fellow of the Royal Society before setting sail on the Resolution with the aim of discovering a north-west passage, but abandoned the route in favour of Hawaii.

His body was recovered from the islanders and buried at sea on February 21, 1779.