The Island of Otaheite (unfinished state)

This engraving, after a drawing by artist William Hodges, is in John Hawkesworth's account of the voyages of Captain James Cook, Joseph Banks and Captain John Byron.

Captain James Cook (1728-1779) made three separate voyages to the Pacific (with the ships Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure, and Discovery) and did more than any other voyager to explore the Pacific and Southern Ocean. Cook not only encountered Pacific cultures for the first time, but also assembled the first large-scale collections of Pacific objects to be brought back to Europe. He was killed in Hawaii in 1779. Hodges was on Cook's second voyage.

Otaheite (Tahiti) was originally named Port Royal Harbour in King George the Third's Island by Captain Samuel Wallis (1728-1795).

Mounted in album with PAI2055-PAI2071, PAI2073-PAI2127.; No.16.

Object Details

ID: PAI2072
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Watts, William
Places: Unlinked place
Date made: 1777
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 265 x 490 mm; page: 590 mm x 460 mm
Parts: Volume of Plates to Cook's Voyages. Voyage II (Album)