ENDEAVOUR approaching Tahiti.
1776

Watercolor 21" x 29"


James Cook

With the possible exception of Nelson, James Cook remains the most famous of all of Britain’s captains. He was the consummate seaman, navigator, cartographer and observer. His three voyages of discovery to the Pacific defined its vastness, fixed clearly the outline of its coasts and almost completely discounted the possibilities of lost continents and mythical straits.

On his first voyage Cook’s orders were to search for the legendary ‘Southern Continent’ and on the way observe the astronomical event, the transit of Venus, from a base on Tahiti. He sailed from Plymouth in August 1768, rounded the Horn, and on the morning of April 11, the high peaks of Tahiti were in site. The breezes were gentle, their progress slow, and it wasn’t until the morning of April 13 that the anchor splashed into the clear water of Matavaii Bay.

On board ENDEAVOUR were two artists employed by Joseph Banks to record the wildlife, natives and landscapes encountered on the voyage. The slow approach to Tahiti allowed Alexander Buchan ample time to draw an accurate profile of the island as they approached her from the east. Buchan, an epileptic, died shortly after on Tahiti.