Cook’s mapping of Tahiti

Published in the scarce atlas, the 'Nuovo atlante geografico universale', this map is one of the most decorative of the island. Cook's mission on his First Voyage to the South Seas was to observe the passage of Venus across the Sun in 1769, at the request of the Royal Society. During the three months he stayed on the island he sailed round it in a small boat, a trip which resulted in this map. To the north can be seen 'Point Venus'. An inset show the Marquesas Islands.