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There is some variation in the spelling of geographic locations and proper names in the text. From the Foreword: 'A troublesome problem in historical work is the matter of variant spellings for proper and place names. Dr. Buck's death occurred before he was able to take up this problem, and in meeting it, Mrs. Christian has chosen a middle path. She modernized and simplified most of the names, but there seemed to be good reason for retaining the original spellings of others, particularly the Polynesian place names as given by their discoverers'.
"Explorers of the Pacific" by the late Peter H. Buck (
"Explorers of the Pacific" is an important anthropological document, for it describes the early contacts of Polynesians with Europeans and Americans, hence provides a picture of the setting in which the culture change of modern times had its origin. However, the book has an appeal that carries far beyond a specialized field. It merits the careful attention of everyone with an interest in the Pacific.
The manuscript of "Explorers of the Pacific" had been completed at the time of Dr. Buck's death, but it was still not ready for the printer. To Mrs. Eloise Christian, Editor of the Bishop Museum publications, goes the credit for bringing the manuscript to its final form and for seeing it through the press. In addition, various members of the Museum staff assisted Dr. Buck in the preparation of the book.
A troublesome problem in historical work is the matter of variant spellings for proper and place names. Dr. Buck's death occurred before he was able to take up this problem, and in meeting it, Mrs. Christian has chosen a middle path. She modernized and simplified most of the names, but there seemed to be good reason for retaining the original spellings of others, particularly the Polynesian place names as given by their discoverers.
The illustrations are reproductions of old engravings published in the reports of the explorers. The Museum is indebted to Mr.
After the settlement of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia in prehistoric times, the exploration of the Pacific had to wait for untold centuries before ships and navigators reached a stage of development that would admit of venturing out of sight of land. The inhabitants of the Asiatic coast and the islands along the western boundary of the great ocean evinced no curiosity as to what lay beyond their eastern horizon. They were probably sufficiently occupied with their coastal and inter-island trade to be satisfied. The Indian tribes along the eastern boundary formed by the Pacific coast of the two Americas took no interest in the sea beyond inshore fishing, and they developed neither the vessels nor the maritime curiosity to venture beyond sight of land.
1486 to 1521
The later exploration of the Pacific was left to daring adventurers from the continent of Europe. However, east or west, the undiscovered Pacific was a long way from Europe and much preliminary discovery had to be made before even the shores were reached. In 1486
1492 to 1513
The eastern shores of the Pacific were also reached by a preliminary series of expeditions.
Various expeditions explored the neighboring mainland coast. Among the explorers was Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who assisted in establishing a settlement at Darien in the Gulf of Uraba. Learning from a friendly cacique that there was a great sea on the other side of the range, he set out with an expedition on September 1, 1513. Within twenty-five or twenty-six days, they reached the top of the range, and Balboa "silent upon a peak in Darien" gazed on the great ocean. When, on September 29, the expedition reached the American shore of the Pacific, Balboa waded into it and claimed the "Great South Sea" in the name of the King of Spain.
1518 to 1521
Though Balboa discovered the Pacific for Spain, the men who spread Spain's conquest of the mainland were Cortez and Pizarro. In 1518
1522 to 1537
1519 to 1522
The direct sea path to the East by a western course was blocked by the two Americas. South America was occupied on the west by the Spanish and on the east by the Portuguese, who had established ports along the coast of Brazil. The popular theory was that the land mass of South America extended to the south polar region. But one navigator held, as did Columbus, a different theory and wished to put it to the test. He was a Portuguese named
Magellan turned north along the Patagonian coast, then west, inclining northward in his westerly course. Thus he passed north of the Tuamotu Archipelago and south of the Marquesas. Meanwhile, his men suffered so greatly from scurvy and hunger that a half ducat was paid for a fresh rat. Two small uninhabited islands were sighted, but they provided no relief. After three months and a week of incredible suffering, his ships arrived on March 6, 1521, at a group of islands which he first named the Islands of the Lateen Sails, after the sails used by the natives. Later he changed the name to the Islands of Thieves (Ladrones) because of the stealing propensity of the native inhabitants. The island at which he landed was probably Guam in the Marianas.
Magellan sailed on to Samar in the Philippines, then to Cebu, where he foolishly undertook the cause of a local rajah against the rebellious small island of Moctan off the east coast of Cebu. He and eight of his men were killed. The small Vitoria, a ship of 85 tons under the command of Juan Sebastian del Cano,
Magellan not only discovered a western passage to the Pacific through the Strait of Magellan but, by crossing the Pacific, proved that Columbus was right in his theory that the world was round. His death deprived him of the honor of being the first to circumnavigate the world, but the way in which del Cano conducted the return voyage of the Vitoria made him worthy of that honor.
1525 to 1529
The second Pacific voyage was also made from Europe by the Spanish, shortly after Magellan's trip. A fleet of seven ships under the command of Pataca, which was separated from the other ships in a storm, managed to reach the shores of New Spain. Loyasa';s other ships followed Magellan's course across the Pacific and thus encountered no Polynesian islands.
Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, was informed from Spain of Loyasa's voyage, and he received news of the expedition's entry into the Pacific through the Pataca. He thereupon fitted out an expedition of three ships under the command of Alvaro de Saavedra to reinforce his countrymen. Saavedra sailed on October 31, 1527, from Zacatula, Mexico, on the first expedition organized from the American coast. Two of his ships were lost during a storm, but Saavedra and his flagship, the Florida, reached Mindanao and then the Moluccas. On a southwest wind, he sailed from Tidore in June 1528 to return to New Spain, but the wind failed and he returned to the Moluccas. When he left Tidore for the second time, in May 1529, he followed the coast of Papua to four or five degrees south latitude, then turned northeast and north to 27° N. latitude, where he died. His successors followed Saavedra's command to sail to 31° N. latitude but encountered contrary winds and turned back, arriving at the Moluccas in October 1529. Thus, the first attempt to return to New Spain across the Pacific failed.
It was also in 1529 that Charles V sold Spain's claim to the Moluccas to Portugal for 350,000 ducats, to the great disgust of the Spaniards who had established a footing on those islands by out fighting the Portuguese. Spain, however, retained her claims to the Ladrones and the Philippines, basing her right to them on their prior discovery by Magellan.
1529 to 1542
A voyage of some importance was made by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos in 1542, with
1559 to 1564
The project for settling the Philippines languished somewhat until 1559, when King Philip of Spain sent orders to the Viceroy of Mexico to prepare an armament for their conquest. Fray Andres de Urdaneta, who had taken holy orders, after accompanying a previous expedition, was commanded by the king to aid the expedition with his abilities and advice. Considerable delay was caused by various factors, including the death of the viceroy, but an expedition of four ships, with San Lucas, commanded by Arellano, deserted. Legaspi made the Ladrones and sailed on to the Philippines. Having sampled Leyte and Bohol Islands, he settled in Cebu and, after some fighting, made a formal treaty of peace with the inhabitants.
1565
In accordance with his Orders, Legaspi sent one of his ships back to New Spain with a report. The sole navigator was Urdaneta, whose ship left Cebu on June 1, 1565, and made the Ladrones with southwest winds. Then easterly winds set in and Urdaneta sailed north to latitude 36° N., where a cape on Japan was sighted. The northerly course in search of north-west winds was continued to 40° N., at one time 43° N. Finally, the American coast was reached, but finding Navidad abandoned because of its unhealthful condition, the ship sailed on to Acapulco. It arrived on October 3, 1565, after a voyage of four months.
Arellano and the San Lucas had reached Mindanao, avoiding Legaspi's other ships, and had returned to New Spain three months before Urdaneta arrived. Reporting that the other ships had been lost, he hastily embarked for Spain to claim a reward for his work. However, the appearance later of Urdaneta at the Spanish Court led to his exposure and punishment. Though Arellano was the first navigator to make the return voyage from the Philippines to New Spain, he provided no record of his course. Urdaneta, on the other hand, kept a journal of the voyage and made scientific observations which were followed for a long time on the subsequent voyages from the Philippines to New Spain.
1567 to 1569
After the voyages of Magellan and Loyasa through the Strait of Magel lan, the Spanish voyages across the Pacific to the Philippines were organized from the ports of Navidad or Acapulco on the Pacific coast of Mexico. As these ports were north of the equator, both the outward and return voyages were made in the Northern Hemisphere. Hence, except for the Hawaiian Archipelago, there was no prospect of encountering any Polynesian islands. The conquest of Peru, however, provided the ports of Payta and Callao from which any expedition would of necessity pass for a distance at least, through the Southern Hemisphere.
The first Spanish navigator to evince a desire to explore the south Pacific was Alvaro de Mendana. His object was to discover rich islands to the west and convert the infidels inhabiting them. He sailed from Callao with two ships on November 19, 1567. The first part of his course evidently retraced part of the route of Magellan, for he passed between the Tokelau chain and the Marquesas without sighting either. However, he continued west instead of turning north. He sighted an island which may have been one of the Ellice group and another which is held to have been Ontong Java. He finally reached the Solomon Islands in the heart of Melanesia, having accomplished the remarkable feat of crossing the south Pacific without encountering any island in Polynesia proper.
After various adventures, he sailed north for his return voyage, passing along the Marshall Islands to a latitude north of Hawaii, across to the California coast, and down the coast to Acapulco. Lack of funds for repairs, and other delays, cost Mendaña another nine months before he reached Callao on September 11, 1569.
1577 to 1580
Toward the end of the century, a new element entered the Pacific by way of the Strait of Magellan. This was made up of British and Dutch navigators, bent, not upon the exploration of the Pacific, but upon harrying the South American coast and capturing Spanish galleons laden with treasure. The first Englishman was Francis Drake, who, having been nearly captured with Pelican was his flagship. He took seventeen days in the Strait of Magellan, before he entered the Pacific on September 6, 1578. After being driven to the south by storms, he worked his way along the Pacific coast alone and the treasure he collected from ships and towns justified the subsequent change of the name of his ship from the Pelican, to the Golden Hind. Spanish war ships sent out to capture him failed to overtake him, and they sailed south to
1586 to 1594
The war which broke out officially between England and Spain in 1586, led to a number of British expeditions which attempted to emulate Drake's success on the Pacific coast. Most of them failed to get through the Strait of Magellan, but one commanded by Santa Ana, Cavendish sailed west from California between the latitudes 12° and 13° N. until he reached Guam. He went on to the Philippines, then sailed for home via the Cape of Good Hope. He anchored at Plymouth on September 9, 1588, after a voyage of two years and 50 days. In his trans-Pacific voyage he was too far south to encounter Hawaii.
Cavendish attempted another expedition with five ships in 1591. He gave up the attempt to pass through the Strait of Magellan, where he encountered bad weather; but Desire, accompanied by the Black, a pinnace, and each time he was forced by violent westerly storms to return to the Strait for shelter. The Black was lost on the third attempt, and Davis had to abandon any further attempt, owing to the condition of his own ship.
The last British expedition of the sixteenth century was made by Dainty. He passed into the Pacific through the Strait of Magellan on March 29, 1594, but after moderate success along the Pacific, had to surrender to superior Spanish forces off the coast of California on June 22, 1594. This British interlude, while interesting, did not add anything to knowledge concerning Polynesia.
1595 to 1596
After his first voyage in 1567, Mendaña kept petitioning the Spanish authorities to equip another expedition to exploit his discoveries in the Solomon Islands. At last, he was supplied with four ships and sailed from Callao on April 9, 1595, worked up the coast, and finally sailed from Payta on June 16. His chief pilot was
Continuing his passage west along the same parallel of latitude, Mendaña passed north of other important islands in Polynesia. He saw four low, palm-studded, uninhabited islands which he named San Bernardo and, eight days later, an island which he called Solitaria. On September 7 he reached Santa Cruz in Melanesia. There his hopes of establishing a settlement met with great difficulty. Probably malaria was prevalent, for forty-seven of his men died within one month. And finally Mendaña himself died, without having reached his original discovery, the Solomons. Quiros took charge of the remnants, though Mendaña's widow was in nominal command as successor to her husband. They abandoned Santa Cruz and sailed to the Ladrones, thence to Manila, which was reached on February 10, 1596. Here, ten of his men died and four entered monastic orders to ensure a future less troubled than their past. After considerable time in the Philippines, Quiros took the long way home, by Urdaneta's northern route. He arrived at Acapulco on December 11, 1596.
1605 to 1606
Quiros, like Mendaña, importuned the authorities to equip a second expedition, and the Viceroy of Peru was ordered to provide him with two ships. On December 21, 1605, Quiros sailed from Callao with two ships and a zabra (launch), with Luis Vaez de Torres second in command. The expedition sailed west, and this time Quiros, farther south than on his voyage with Mendaña, sighted a number of uninhabited low islands in the Tuamotus which he numbered and named.
On February 10, 1606, he encountered an inhabited island to which he gave the name of Conversion de San Pablo. This island was named La Sagittaria by Quiros, according to Burney (A chronological history of the voyages or discoveries in the … Pacific Ocean, vol. 2, p. 281), but according to Markham, who translated the record of Quiros' voyages, Conversion de San Pablo was the name given to the island of Anaa by Quiros (Hakluyt Soc, Ser. II, vol. 14, p. 197, ft. note). Markham states that Burney confused a small atoll (Sagittaria) seen after leaving Conversion de San Pablo with that island.
Quiros continued west and, after passing five more small islands, came to an inhabited island on March 1. This he named Gente Hermosa from the handsome appearance of the inhabitants, of whom he gives an interesting record. The island has been identified as Olosenga, or Swains Island, the most southerly of the Tokelaus. Quiros then sailed on into Melanesia, too far to the south to make Santa Cruz. He arrived at the group now known as the New Hebrides, and one of these islands, discovered on May 3, 1606, he named Australia del Espiritu Santo, believing that it formed part of the long sought "southern continent." It retains the name of Espiritu Santo. After some time in this area, Quiros sailed north to search for Santa Cruz; but as contrary winds drove him to the east, he gave up his quest and steered for Navidad, where he arrived in October 1606. De Torres, however, continued his exploration in the other ship, sailed through the strait between Australia and New Guinea, which was named after him, explored the south coast of New Guinea, and then sailed on to the Moluccas and Manila.
Map of the Pacific, Showing Polynesian Triangle.
1598 to 1601
The principal voyagers in the Pacific so far had been the Spanish and Portuguese, with a little activity on the part of the British. The Dutch, however, had been running ships for years in the East India trade, carrying goods from the Portuguese trading posts in the Spice Islands to the port of Lisbon. But the Dutch were not allowed to share in active trading, and when Portugal united with Spain in 1588, even the carrying trade was refused them. As the Dutch could not afford to allow their many ships to remain idle, they tried during 1594 to 1596 to discover a northeast passage above Europe and Asia and a northwest passage above North America. This attempt to enter the Pacific from the north in order to establish trade with China failed, however. Thus, though the routes round the Cape of Good Hope or through the Strait of Magellan across the "South Sea" involved fighting with the Portuguese and the Spanish, the Dutch traders prepared to vie for a share of eastern prosperity.
The first Dutch expedition was organized in 1598 to go by way of the Strait of Magellan. Five ships were fitted out by the Company of Pieter Verhagen. The names of the ships are interesting, for to the three virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity, a fourth, Fidelity, was added. Wishful thinking evidently inspired the name Good News for the fifth vessel. They sailed under Admiral Jacob Mahu on the Hope from Goree, Holland, on June 27, 1598. The fleet started through the Strait of Magellan on April 6, 1599, and after exploring various bays and being delayed by contrary winds, the five ships entered the Pacific on September 3, accompanied by a 16-ton shallop, the Postillion, which had been set up while the expedition was in the Strait. During their five months in the Strait, more than 120 men had been buried out of a full complement of 491 for the five ships. Of the five ships, the Good News was the first to become bad news, for it was captured by the Spanish off Valparaiso. Then the Fidelity was captured by the Portuguese at the Moluccas. Hope and Charity sailed for Japan to sell their stock of woolen goods; one was lost at sea, the other plundered by the Japanese. Faith alone survived, and under the command of Sebald de Weert, she arrived at Goree, Holland on July 13, 1600, after a voyage of two years and 16 days. Thirty-six of her original crew of 109 had survived.
Another Dutch expedition of this period, consisting of four ships under the command of Olivier van Noort, sailed from Goree, Holland, on September 13, 1598. Van Noort entered the Strait of Magellan on November 22, 1599, and cleared into the Pacific on February 29, 1600. He had committed various atrocities in the Strait, needlessly killing numbers of the local Indians. After little success along the Pacific coast, he sailed west for the Philippines on May 20
1602 to 1609
The first two Dutch expeditions to cross the Pacific were bent on pecuniary gain and made no geographical discoveries, even by accident. But they helped to convince the Dutch that active measures must be taken against the Spanish and Portuguese to protect the trade they hoped to develop. Dutch ships which had reached the East Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope had established a trading post at Ternate in the Moluccas in 1599. However, the various merchant enterprises had warred among themselves, both in regard to prices and in actual fighting. The States General, seeing the trouble caused by divided efforts, invited the formation of one general company. Thus the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602. It was given a charter which gave it the exclusive right, for a twenty-one year period, to trade with the East and to organize a fleet and an army to protect its rights. Dutch organizations outside the company were forbidden to send ships to the East, either by way of the Cape of Good Hope or through the Strait of Magellan. Thus, with the footing the Dutch had obtained in the Moluccas in spite of Portuguese and Spanish opposition, the company was able practically to monopolize the spice trade. In 1609 Spain agreed to a twelve-years' truce with the Low Countries, but fighting continued in the outer seas beyond Europe.
1614 to 1616
In 1614 the Dutch East India Company equipped a fleet of six vessels, under the command of Admiral Joris Spilbergen, to sail to the Moluccas by way of the Strait of Magellan. The fleet left Texel on August 8, 1614. On April 3, 1615, Spilbergen entered the Strait, some of his ships having preceded him to the rendezvous at the Bay de Cordes within the Strait. On May 6 the fleet, reduced to five ships, entered the south sea. It worked up the Pacific coast, provisioning here and capturing there, until on July 16, beyond Arequipa, they sighted the Spanish fleet which had been sent out from Callao to intercept them. The Spanish fleet, commanded by Don Rodrigo de Mendoça,
The Dutch fleet called in at Callao but found it too strongly defended to offer any opportunities, so Spilbergen sailed on to Payta, which he sacked. Sailing north to Acapulco and Navidad, he exchanged accumulated Spanish prisoners for provisions. He then sailed across the Pacific to the Ladrones, without encountering the Hawaiian Islands. He spent some time off Manila, picking off trading ships making for that port, much like a man-of-war hawk waiting off shore to intercept other seabirds flying home with their day's catch of fish. However, when he learned that a large Spanish fleet was being organized to attack him, he sailed to the Moluccas to assist his countrymen, still fighting the Portuguese posts in that area. He arrived at Ternate on March 26, 1616. Spilbergen's expedition made no discoveries, but he was shortly to meet voyagers who had.
1615 to 1616
In the same year that Admiral Spilbergen set out from Holland, another expedition was being planned by a group of merchants headed by Eendracht and the 110-ton galiot, Hoorn. Jacob Le Eendracht, and the Hoorn was commanded by
The expedition sailed from Hoorn accidentally burned while careened for repairs. The crew, goods, and guns were transferred to the Eendracht. On January 20, 1616, the Eendracht, being out of sight of land, passed the latitude of the entrance of the Strait of Magellan. Three days later, the land of Tierra del Fuego was picked up and followed in an east-southeast direction. On the 24th they saw another high mountainous country to the east which they named Staten Land in honor of the States of Holland. They sailed south down the passage between Staten Land and Tierra del Fuego until Staten Land turned toward the east, when the coast of Tierra del Fuego was followed in a west-southwest direction. On the 29th they passed north of some small rocky islets, which they named the Isles de Barnevelt, and the high, hilly land of Tierra del Fuego was observed to end to the southward in a sharp point, which they named Cape Hoorn in honor of the town of Hoorn in West Friesland. They sailed between the Barnevelt Islands and
The Eendracht sailed west and encountered some of the northern islands of the
Continuing west and a little south, the Eendracht encountered on May 8 a double canoe with lateen sails; an illustration of which identifies it as a Tongan double sailing canoe. Some of the occupants of the canoe were recklessly killed and the Dutch, conscious of their brutality, tried to make amends by giving presents to the people before allowing the canoe to continue on its way. Two days later, an inhabited island was discovered and named Cocos Island. Another nearby island, was named Verraders (Traitors) Island, because of an attack made against the ship. These two islands are Tafahi, called Boscawen
Having discovered some of the Tuamotu islands, the northern Tongan islands, and the Horne Islands, the Eendracht passed along the northern fringe of Melanesia and the northern coast of New Guinea, where the Schouten Islands were named after
From the Moluccas, Le Maire and Schouten proceeded to Eendracht's crew took service with the East India Company.
Some accounts state that old
1623 to 1624
In 1621, when the Dutch truce with Spain ended, the Dutch decided to follow up Admiral Spilbergen's success with another attack against the Spanish possessions in South America. A fleet of eleven ships under Admiral Jacob l'Heremite sailed from Goree on April 29, 1623. The fleet decided against entering any port on the eastern coast of South America and arrived off the entrance of the Strait of Le Maire after a nine-months' voyage. It sailed through the strait and attacked various parts of the coast of Peru. The admiral in command died of a serious malady, and the command passed to Vice-admiral Schapenham, who proved to be a poor organizer of punitive attempts against the Spanish towns.
The fleet sailed from the coast of New Spain for
1606 to 1629
While Dutch explorations had been taking place from the American side, the island continent of Australia, though still incognita, had been receiving attention along its north and west coasts. Eendracht, while sailing from the Cape of Good Hope to Java, went too far south and encountered a part of the coast of West Australia, which he named Eendrachtsland. He marked his discovery with a pewter plate bearing the date October 25, 1616, which he nailed to a post. Eighty years later the plate was removed by another Dutch voyager, and it is now, or was before World War II, in the Amsterdam Museum.
In 1619, Captain Leeuwin, encountered the coast still farther south in 1622, and the southwest cape was named Cape Leeuwin. At about this time (1622 to 1623)
The need for accurate charting of the coast was stressed by the disastrous wreck of the Batavia under Captain Pelsaert in 1629 on Houtmans Island. Furthermore, the accounts of the land and its scattered black inhabitants gave the Dutch no encouragement to seek for treasure and commerce in their new discoveries.
1642 to 1643
In 1636 Heemskirk and Zeehaan were equipped for the expedition, and
Tasman sailed from Batavia on August 14, 1642, with his two ships. After calling at Mauritius, he sailed southeast and then south-southeast to clear the southern extremity of Southland; then, east by north. On November 24 he encountered the land now known as Tasmania, which he named Anthony van Diemens Land. He explored the southern part and, without discovering that it was an island, continued his course toward the east on December 5. On December 13, a large high land was sighted, and on the 18th the ships anchored within a bay. The inhabitants came out in double canoes, and a favorable opportunity occurring when a boat passed between the two ships, the natives killed three and wounded one member of one of the boat's crew. Tasman referred to the attackers as "murderers" but the attack was no worse than the slaying of unarmed Tongans by the Dutch on the expedition of Le Maire and Schouten. Tasman named the bay Murderers Bay, but the name was later changed to the more appropriate Golden Bay. The land was called Staten Land, later changed to New Zealand. Tasman weighed anchor and sailed up the west coast of the North Island without knowing that he had been in the western entrance to a strait which separated two islands. He named a northern cape, Cape Maria van Diemen and called the islands to the north the
Tasman was off the Three Kings on January 5, 1643. On the 19th he picked up the most southerly of the Tongan islands which he named Pylstaart. Two days later he reached Eua, which he named Middelburgh, and
Tasman was the first navigator to enter the south Pacific from the west. He discovered New Zealand and the southern and middle groups of the Tongan islands, and he was the first to circumnavigate Australia.
1643 to 1721
After Tasman's voyage, no discoveries were made in the south Pacific until the voyage of another Dutchman, Jacob Roggeveen, about eighty years later. In the interval, however, there was a great deal of activity in the West Indies in the form of attacks on Spanish ships and ports by English and French buccaneers. The buccaneers worked round to the Pacific coast but, fortunately, never passed west of those uninhabited islands off the American coast which they used as bases for attacking the Peruvian and Mexican coasts and shipping. In 1686 an English buccaneer named Cygnet. Dampier made voyages in the East Indies and to the northwest coast of Australia.
After returning to England, Dampier wrote a work entitled "A new voyage round the world." It was so well received that the British Admiralty gave Dampier a commission as captain in the Royal Navy and command of the Roebuck to conduct further surveys of Australia, or New Holland as it was then known. Thus the exploration of northwest Australia and part of the New Guinea coast was conducted in 1689 to 1700.
In 1703, when war broke out against France and Spain, some English merchants fitted out two ships, the Saint George and Cinque Ports Galley, as privateers to cruise against the Spaniards in the south seas. The command of the two ships was given to Dampier, and they sailed from Kinsale on September 11, 1703. Dampier was unfortunate in his officers, who quarrelled with him and with one another. In February 1704 the ships were at Cinque Ports Galley, commanded by Captain Stradling after the death of
Saint George in February 1705, for she had become unseaworthy. He also reached the East Indies, on a prize brigantine which was seized by the Dutch. Thus the voyage did not produce any financial advantage to the English merchants and no addition was made to our knowledge of the south seas.
Nothing daunted, the merchants of Bristol fitted out two ships for a cruise to the south seas against the Spaniards. The Duke, 320 tons with thirty guns and 183 men, was commanded by Duchess, 260 tons with 26 guns and 151 men, was commanded by
Woodes Rogers had better fortune than Dampier, for after a successful expedition along the Pacific coast which included the capture of a Manila ship, he sailed from California for the East Indies on January 10, 1710. He reached Guam on March 10, called at the Moluccas and at Batavia without interference from the Dutch, and finally reached Texel on July 23, 1711. Again, no addition was made to man's knowledge of the Pacific.
1721 to 1722
Eagle, Thienhoven, and African Galley. With the rank of Admiral, Roggeveen sailed with his three ships from Texel on August 21, 1721. After passing through the Strait of Le Maire, he sailed south as far as latitude 60 degrees; but encountering ice and rough weather, gave up the idea of a useful southern continent. He sailed north to
Continuing westward, Roggeveen encountered some of the northern Tuamotu islands, which he named Carlshof, or Court of Charles; Schaadelyk, or Pernicious; Daageraad, or Aurora; Abendroth, or Vespree; Irrigen, or The African Galley was wrecked on Pernicious Island, which was probably Takapoto, but the crew were safely transferred to the other two ships. Recreation Island was said to be high land, and though the suggestion has been made that it was Ulietea (Raiatea), it was probably the raised coral island of Makatea. Sailing west again for thirteen days, he encountered two high islands on June 14 and a third on the following day. He named them the Bauman Islands after the captain of the Thienhoven. There seems little doubt that these were the Manua Islands in taupou chiefess with a bleached-hair headdress. The statement that the people were not painted or marked like the Easter Islanders may be explained by the further statement that they were clothed from the waist down. Thus the characteristic Samoan tattooing from waist to knees was covered by the skirt of tapa or fine matting. The further information that the people wore large hats and carried bows and arrows is characteristic of the inaccurate additions to the Roggeveen account.
After leaving the Bauman Islands, Roggeveen sighted two islands that he supposed were the Cocos and Verraders Islands seen by Le Maire and Schouten, but they must have been the
Apart from the islands in the Tuamotus, Roggeveen discovered Easter Island and a part of Samoa. Thus, the expeditions of Le Maire and Schouten, Tasman and Roggeveen established a good record of Polynesian discoveries for the Dutch, and the Dutch seem to have rested content with them.
1740 to 1744
A period of forty years elapsed after Roggeveen's voyage before any exploring expedition to the south Pacific took place, but in the interval a voyage was made by
Friction between England and Spain led to war in 1739. The British Government equipped a fleet of six ships with two victualers (pinks) to cruise off the Pacific coast of Peru and New Spain for the purpose of cutting off the Spanish supphes of wealth from South America. The fleet was placed under Centurion, with sixty guns and 400 men. The total force numbered about 1,510 men. Anson sailed from St. Helens Road on September 18, 1740, and passed through the Strait of Le Maire in March 1741.
The Spanish, who had learned of the British expedition, equipped a large fleet of war vessels and sent it out under Admiral Pizarro to oppose the British. The Spanish fleet, however, ran into storms, the provisions gave out, and many of the ships were wrecked. Thus the Spanish attempt ended in failure. The Viceroy of Peru also sent out some ships to intercept Anson, but they failed to make contact.
Anson continued taking prizes along the Pacific coast during 1741 and part of 1742. He lost some of his ships but replaced them with prizes manned by crews from his own ships. On May 6, 1742, he sailed from the Mexican coast and reached Tinian in the Marianas, whence he sailed to Macao. Here he refitted before sailing to a position near the Philippines to await a galleon. In June 1743 he sighted a galleon and, by means of superior skill and seamanship, captured her treasure valued at about 400,000 pounds sterling. After repairing at Macao, Anson sailed in the Centurion for England via the Cape of Good Hope and anchored at Spithead on June 15, 1744, after a voyage of three years and nine months.
1764 to 1766
The British government, having awakened to the fact that Pacific exploration would add to England's prestige as a maritime power, began a series of voyages in 1764. The first expedition consisted of a copper-sheathed ship, the Dolphin, under Commodore the Tamar, under Captain Mouat. Byron was to explore the south Atlantic for land between the latitudes 33° and 53° S., identify Pepys Island, and go on to the Pacific. The ships sailed from the Downs on June 21, 1764 and reached Port Desire in Patagonia in November. Byron examined the
After refreshing at Masafuero, the ships sailed northwest to get the trades, and on June 7 Byron encountered two islands of the northern The Island of Otaheite, Drawn by Willam Hodges, Artist With Cook on His Second Voyage.
On his return voyage, he rounded the Cape of Good Hope in December and anchored in the Downs on May 9, 1766. The results of Byron's voyage were meager.
1766 to 1769 Byron's voyage was followed immediately by another, which was entrusted to Dolphin. With him sailed the sloop Swallow, commanded by Tamar in Byron's expedition, and a store ship, the Prince Frederick. Wallis was to search for the southern continent but, in the event that he failed to find it, he was to search for land in the Pacific on latitude 20° S. The ships sailed from Plymouth Sound on August 22, 1766, refreshed at Port Famine in the Strait of Magellan on December 17, and entered the Pacific on April 11, 1767. The Swallow disappeared in a storm and was thought lost.
Wallis sailed northwest, then west along latitude 20° S. As a result, he passed through the Tuamotu Archipelago farther south than the course followed by
At Matavai Bay Wallis met with a hostile reception from hundreds of canoes, but friendly relations were finally established in which the high chief-tainess Oberea (Purea) played an active part. The use of this anchorage by Dolphin stayed over a month, affording time for the sick to recover; the ship to be amply provisioned with hogs, fowls, vegetables, and fruit; and some exploration of the island to be made. Wallis set sail on July 27 and proceeded along the shore of Moorea, which he named Duke of York Island, but he did not go ashore. Continuing in a westerly direction he encountered three more of the Society islands, which he named Sir Charles Saunders Island (Tapuaemanu), Lord How's (Howe) Island (Mopiha), and the Scilly Islands (Fenua Ura). On August 13 he saw the Cocos and Traitors Islands discovered by Le Maire and Schouten earlier and renamed them Boscawen and Keppel. Three days later, he discovered Uvea, and Wallis modestly states that his men named it Wallis Island in honor of their captain.
From Wallis Island, the Dolphin sailed out of Polynesia and, after touching at Tinian and Batavia, returned via the Cape of Good Hope to anchor in the Downs on May 20, 1768.
The Swallow had not gone down in the storm which separated her from the Dolphin, but had been saved by the consummate seamanship of Dolphin was at Tahiti, the Swallow was off a rocky island which was named
Though Carteret added little to Polynesian discovery, his voyage was one of the pluckiest in history. Not only should the Swallow have been relegated to the scrap heap instead of being sent out on an expedition, the Admiralty had refused to supply Carteret with an anvil and other equipment for repairs. The story of how he circumnavigated the world in a leaking tub and kept her afloat for two years and seven months will ever remain a record for endurance, courage, and skill.
Louis de Bougainville overtook the Swallow on February 26 and sent a boat to exchange courtesies. He remarked on the condition of Carteret's ship as follows: "His ship was very small, went very ill, and when we took leave of him, he remained as if it were at anchor. How much he must have suffered in so bad a vessel, may well be conceived."
1768 to 1771
The transit of Venus, expected on June 3, 1769, aroused a great deal of interest in scientific circles, and as the newly discovered island of Tahiti in the south Pacific was held to be a favorable place for making scientific observations of the impending phenomenon, an expedition was planned under the joint auspices of the Admiralty and the Royal Society. Cook was chosen to lead the expedition, raised in rank from master to lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and given command of H. M. Bark Endeavour, 368 tons. The complement of 94 included
Cook sailed from Plymouth on August 26, 1768, and after two stops, rounded Cape Horn on January 27, 1769. Sailing west, he chose a course between that of Byron and Wallis; but in the early part of the voyage through the
Cook had decided to take a native named According to Hawkesworth, Parkinson, and Endeavour sailed north from Tahiti on July 13 and sighted an island on the first day. Parkinson's account says that Tupaea called this island "Tetiroah"; and as Tetiaroa is about twenty-six miles north of Tahiti, it is evident that Parkinson is correct. The first of the leeward group was sighted on July 14. As Tupaea knew the native names of the islands, the only difficulty in naming them was the recording of the native sounds. The
The course was next directed southwest toward the Staten Land discovered by Tasman over a century before. On October 7 a promontory was sighted by