Longhouse and Canoes in Tahiti
Information
Description
Tupa’ia, a navigator and priest from Raiatea, assisted Captain James Cook on his first voyage to the South Pacific (1769–71). The drawing shows a traditional longhouse in Tahiti situated on a beach fertile with different types of trees and plants (pandanus, breadfruit, banana, coconut and taro can all be identified).
In the foreground three canoes are being navigated by local men. The double-sailed vessel on the left is a sailing canoe and the other two boats are used for war. The bow and stern of each war canoe is decorated with a wooden ‘tiki’ sculpture (a carved image of a god or ancestor). Warriors armed with spears stand on platforms raised from the sterns of both vessels ready for battle.
- Full title:
- Drawings, in Indian ink, illustrative of Capt. Cook's first voyage, 1768 -1770, chiefly relating to Otaheite and New Zealand, by A. Buchan, John F. Miller, and others. Large Folio. Bequeathed by Sir Joseph Banks, Bart.
- Created:
- 1769
- Format:
- Pen and Indian Ink / Watercolour / View
- Creator:
- Tupaia
- Held by
- British Library
- Shelfmark:
- Add MS 15508
This item is featured in:
Explore further
Related articles
A global gaze: British artists, landscape spaces, and the wider world in the late 18th century
- Article by:
- John McAleer
- Theme:
- Military and maritime
Dr John McAleer explores how both British, and non-European, professional and amateur artists engaged with the British Empire via the medium of landscape art.
The first voyage of James Cook
- Article by:
- William Frame
- Theme:
- The voyages
William Frame, the British Library’s Head of Modern Archives and Manuscripts, gives an account of Cook’s first voyage of 1768-71. Cook was instructed to observe the transit of Venus. But his expedition also had a secret aim to find lands in the south Pacific.
Travel, trade and the expansion of the British Empire
- Article by:
- Jim Watt
- Themes:
- Politics and religion, Travel, colonialism and slavery
In the 17th century, London was at the centre of global trade, with goods and individuals arriving in the capital from all over the world. Jim Watt looks at how travel, trade and empire shaped the works of Daniel Defoe, Alexander Pope, Josiah Wedgwood, Oliver Goldsmith and Ignatius Sancho.
Share this page
Please consider the environment before printing