a new reading of tupaia`s chart - The Journal of the Polynesian Society

A NEW READING OF TUPAIA’S CHART
ANNE DI PIAZZA
and
ERIK PEARTHREE
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique Centre de Recherche
et de Documentation sur l’Océanie, Marseille
One of the most intriguing artefacts brought back to Europe from Cook’s voyages
in the Pacific is a map, Tupaia’s Chart, catalogued in the British Museum as a “Chart
of the Society Islands with Otaheite in the center July-Aug 1769”. After decades of
close, focused work on Tupaia’s Chart, it still cannot be read as a Mercator projection.
Many islands, even archipelagos seem to be misplaced. Could it be that Tupaia simply
failed to solve the problem of converting his view of the Ocean world onto a twodimensional map, with a scale and azimuths?
In this paper, we propose a different reading of his Chart, a reading that is in
accordance with how traditional Pacific navigators conceived of their sea environment,
i.e., through memorised lists of “relevant pairs of islands plus so-called ‘star courses’
between these islands” (Gell 1985:284). We conclude that Tupaia’s Chart, while
having the appearance of a map, is in fact a mosaic of sailing directions or plotting
diagrams drawn on paper, similar to those made by master navigators tracing lines
in the sand or arranging pebbles on a mat to instruct their pupils.
TUPAIA, THE TAHITIAN GEOGRAPHER AND NAVIGATOR
Cook, Banks and Molyneux had little to say about Tupaia and his activities on
board the Endeavour. Not a word was written about the drafting of the famous Chart.
Tupaia did spark however the curiosity of the officers when it came to piloting the
vessel around Tahiti, or listing islands he knew. Tupaia’s reputation as a geographer
began on the Endeavour somewhere between Tahiti and New Zealand. On 13 July
1769, upon leaving Tahiti for the Leeward islands, Cook wrote:
I have before hinted that these people have an extensive knowledge of the
islands situated in these seas, Tupia [sic] as well as several others hath given
us an account of upwards of seventy, but as the account they have given of
their situation is so vague and uncertain I shall refar [refrain from] giving a
list of them until I have learnt from Tupia the situation of each island with a
little more certainty. (Beaglehole 1955:138)
Eight months later, Tupaia had succeeded in convincing Cook of his geographical
knowledge. While departing from New Zealand, Cook noted: “I shall now add a list
of those islands which Tupia and several others have given us an account of and
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
endeavour to point out the [their] respective situations from Otaheite or Georges
Island…” (Beaglehole 1955:291). This text is followed by a list of islands1 to which
Cook added: “The above list was taken from a Chart of the Islands Drawn by Tupia’s
own hands, he at one time gave us an Account of near 130 Islands but in his Chart
he laid down only 74…” (Beaglehole 1955:293, 294).
Although Tupaia’s Chart presents the Pacific as a veritable “sea of islands”, very
different from the empty Ocean known at the time, Cook does not seem to have actually
attempted to find any of them.2 Certainly Cook had his own constraints, his own route,
and when he did finally list the directions to Tupaia’s islands, it was not because he
had “learned…the situation of each island with…more certainty”, but rather because
he had had occasions to convince himself that Tupaia was both a skilled navigator
and a knowledgeable geographer; after all, he was able to accurately point to Tahiti
throughout their voyage and to pilot the Endeavour through the uncharted waters of
the Society Islands (Salmond 2004).
Banks is the most outspoken on the subject of Tupaia. On the eve of their departure
from Tahiti, he noted: “… what makes him more than anything else desireable is his
experience in the navigation of these people…” and later on: “we have now a very
good opinion of Tupias pilotage, especially since we observd him at Huahine send
a man to dive down to the heel of the ships rudder; this the man did several times
and reported to him the depth of water the ship drew, after which he has never suffrd
her to go in less than 5 fathom water without being much alarmd” (Banks 1998:299,
316). Banks’ admiration was tempered by gentle mockery as when he writes that
Tupaia “prayd to Tane for a wind and as often boasted to me of the success of his
prayers, which I plainly saw he never began till he saw a breeze so near the ship that
it generally reachd her before his prayer was finished” (Banks 1998:356).
TUPAIA, NOVICE CARTOGRAPHER
Tupaia’s achievements were not limited to navigation and geography. On board he
also studied cartography, painting and drawing, but on this subject again, the logbooks
are silent. Only incidentally and during his second voyage, did Cook note that Tupaia
“made a drawing of one of these Vessels [apparently in reference to Tahitian war
canoes]” (Beaglehole 1963:407, Glyndwr 2003:47). Cook was probably referring to
Tupaia’s watercolour of a Tahitian scene showing two war canoes and one sailing
canoe (Glyndwr 2003: fig.2.2).
In a portfolio in the British Library, among the watercolours recently attributed to
Tupaia by Carter (1997), is a sketch map bearing a faint pencil title “Society Islands
discovered by Lieut. J. Cook in 1769”. There are numerous indications suggesting it
may have been drawn by Tupaia (Fig.1). The islands are out of scale and lack a grid,
unlike those on manuscript charts signed by Cook, Pickersgill or Molyneux. Some
islands, such as Bola Bola [Borabora] and Maurua [Maupiti], which were not visited
by the Endeavour, are nevertheless depicted in detail. The inked outlines of others are
ragged, and that of Ulieatea [Ra‘iatea] is highlighted in various styles as if it was a
practise exercise. The rough pen hatching imitates Cook’s style, and the ink washes the
style of Pickersgill or Molyneux. This chart, probably the only one remaining drawn
by Tupaia’s own hand, is testimony to his apprenticeship of European cartography.
Figure 1. Sketch map of the Leeward Society Islands probably drawn by Tupaia. Copyright British Library Board, all
rights reserved (Add Ms 15508, n°18)
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
A BRIEF HISTORY OF TUPAIA’S CHART
The map for which Tupaia is famous however is the “Chart of the Society Islands
with Otaheite in the center…”. The original, presumably the one “…Drawn by Tupai’s
own hands” is missing. Only Banks’ copy of it which bears the notation “Drawn by
Lieut. James Cook 1769” has been preserved (Fig. 2) (Beaglehole 1955:293-94,
fn.1). This document, now in the British Library was first published in the portfolio
of “Charts and Views” by Skelton, accompanying Volume I of Beaglehole’s edition of
Cook’s Journals (Beaglehole 1955). Bank’s copy has been reproduced with accuracy.
Pairs of tiny pricked holes mark each island,3 apparently to help Cook transpose their
exact positions by punching through the original into the copy.
The Forsters, the father and son naturalists on Cook’s second voyage, made their
own versions of Tupaia’s Chart. As early as 1778, J.R. Forster published an engraved
map4 entitled: “A CHART representing the ISLES of the SOUTH-SEA according to
the NOTIONS of the INHABITANTS of o-TAHEITEE and the Neighbouring Isles,
chiefly collected from the accounts of TUPAYA” (Thomas et al. 1996 [following
p. 201]). This was the version known as Tupaia’s Chart, until the Banks copy came
to light in 1955 (Beaglehole 1955:293-94, fn.1). G. Forster’s map5 is a hand drawn
sketch included in a letter to his publisher with instructions that it be included in his
account of the voyage, which was published in 1777 (Thomas et al. 2000).
In order to localise Tupaia’s islands, we have used Banks’s copy of Tupaia’s Chart.
Its 74 islands make it the only one that matches Cook’s description. Also, Banks’s
copy does not include the Forsters’ additions and misplacements of Tupaia’s islands
onto a latitude-longitude grid to correspond with their own identifications.
Previous Studies of Tupaia’s Chart
Numerous authors have struggled with Tupaia’s Chart (Adam 1982; Dening 1963;
Finney 1998; Hale 1846; Lewthwaite 1966, 1970; Quatrefages 1866; Sharp 1957,
1964; Smith 1898; Thomas et al. 1996; Turnbull 1998, 2000; White 1961). Yet the
“reader is often confronted with pages of detailed map analysis and nary a map…
[with] lists of archaic looking Polynesian names and their presumed identifications…
appended for his enlightenment” (Lewthwaite 1970:3). This citation, both humorous
and mordant, highlights two recurrent problems with the chart: identifying the islands
and understanding their locations.
Dening made a thorough review of previous identifications, while Lewthwaite
turned and flipped quadrants of the chart, testing hypotheses about possible inversions
of the cardinal directions, trying to make sense of the islands’ locations (Dening 1963;
Lewthwaite 1966, 1970). If “[s]ome forty-odd names... [can now be] attached with more
or less assurance to the map”, it still cannot be read like a proper chart and no matter how
it is twisted, numerous islands remain in the wrong sectors (Lewthwaite 1970:11).
Building upon these previous studies, we brought traditional way-finding concepts
into play, believing that Tupaia’s Chart may best be understood as a local navigator’s
attempt to teach Cook and his officers the directions to surrounding islands. We argue
that this document is not a map, nor a representation of Cartesian space, but a mosaic
of subject-centred sailing directions or bearings to distant islands.
Figure 2. Tupaia’s Chart found in Banks’s personal collection and preserved in the British Library. Copyright British
Library Board, all rights reserved (Add Ms 21519 C).
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
TRADITIONAL PLOTTING DIAGRAMS
The best known examples of traditional navigational concepts come from the
Caroline Islands in Micronesia, where “star compasses” and “island charts” are still
taught and used today (Alkire 1970, Gladwin 1970, Lewis 1975, Thomas 1987). A star
compass is a mental construct consisting of bearings radiating from a centre to points
on the horizon marked by the rising and setting of key stars. To teach it, Micronesians
trace lines in the sand or arrange pebbles and sticks on a mat (Finney 1998:443,
Gladwin 1970:129-30). By mentally placing a particular island of departure in the
centre and target islands around the perimeter, a “star compass” becomes an “island
chart”, here called a “plotting diagram” since unlike a chart or a map, it indicates
only bearings, not distances (Lewis 1975: fn. 8). A plotting diagram is thus a series
of bearings radiating out from an island of departure to islands of arrival. The centre
point (or island of departure) where the navigator imagines himself is a “subjective
coordinate”, unlike the coordinates in Cartesian space where islands “hold positions
which are defined absolutely, not in relation to the presence, in the same space, of
the epistemic subject” (Gell 1985:273, 278).
No detailed accounts of teaching devices analogous to these “star compasses” or
“island charts” were recorded in Polynesia, although some hints in the literature such
as guiding stars for islands, known as kaveinga in Tonga and aveia in the Society
Islands, suggest that such a system once existed (Lewis 1975:77). J.R. Forster also
noted that the Tahitians used the rising and setting points of the stars for a compass
at night and that Tupaia “… pointed to [the] part of the heavens, where each isle [on
his chart] was situated…” (Thomas et al. 1996:310). In Polynesia, directions were
named for the winds. Such “wind compasses” were described from the Southern
Cooks, Tahiti, Pukapuka and Tokelau (Beaglehole and Beaglehole 1938:22, Burrows
1923:147, Corney 1915:284-85, Gill 1876:319-21, Lewis 1975:74-75). They appear
to have had a similar function to that of “star compasses”.
TUPAIA’S CHART, A MOSAIC OF PLOTTING DIAGRAMS
In order to reconstruct the hypothetical plotting diagrams from Tupaia’s Chart, our
method was to trace bearings off a modern nautical chart6 from different islands of
departure to various target islands. These islands were chosen among those previously
identified (Dening 1963). We then superimposed these sets of bearings, or plotting
diagrams, onto the corresponding island of departure on Tupaia’s Chart and rotated
them so that they intersected the appropriate target islands. Rotation does not affect
the validity of the diagrams, since the relation of the different bearings is preserved
no matter how they are oriented.
Corresponding sets of bearings were obtained from five islands of departure:
Ra‘iatea, Tahiti, Mehetia, Pukapuka and Savai‘i (Figs 3-7, Tables 1-5). Two of
these islands were important in Tupaia’s life: Ra‘iatea, where he was born, and
Tahiti, where he was living when he met Cook. Mehetia and Pukapuka are known
from ethnographic sources as good islands of departure for voyages to the northern
Tuamotus and to Samoa-Tokelau (Beaglehole and Beaglehole 1938:400, 410-11:
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
327
Morrison 1966:166). Tupaia described O-heavai [Savai‘i] as the “the father of all the
islands” emphasising its importance in Tahitian eyes, perhaps in reference to their
homeland (Hale 1846:122-23, Thomas et al. 1996:316). Other islands of departure
were tested, including islands in the Tuamotu, Austral, Cook and Society groups. No
corresponding sets of bearings were found.
We grouped matching bearings into 4 classes:
• Class 1 groups previously identified islands whose bearings on Tupaia’s Chart
are within 5° of their true bearings from the nautical chart.
• Class 2 groups previously identified islands whose bearings are between 5° and
15° of true.
• Class 3 groups islands not previously identified whose bearings on the plotting
diagrams (used for Classes 1 and 2) are within 5° of true.
• Class 4 groups islands not previously identified whose bearings on the plotting
diagrams (used for Classes 1 and 2) are between 5° and 15° of true.
The five plotting diagrams include 31 different bearings that explain the location of
33 islands7 within the Society, Tuamotu, Austral, Marquesas, Cook and Samoa island
groups, and perhaps Tokelau as well. Tupaia’s knowledge was certainly not limited
Table 1. List of target islands whose bearings from Tahiti match those on Tupaia’s
Chart. Ohevaroa has been previously identified as Hiva Oa in the Marquesas (Smith
1898:813), however its bearing matches that of Takaroa in the Tuamotus. (Henry
translates Takapoto as “short separation” in opposition to Takaroa as “long separation”
[Henry 1993:114,117].)
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
Table 2. List of target islands whose bearings from Ra‘iatea match those on Tupaia’s
Chart. Ohevapoto has been suggested to be Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas (Beaglehole
1955:293), however its bearing matches that of Takapoto in the Tuamotus.
Table 3. List of target islands whose bearings from Mehetia match those on Tupaia’s Chart.
to these few courses, which would have been accompanied by additional information
such as sailing distances, steering stars or wind directions. Fragments of this data were
recorded. For example, Tupaia told Molyneux that Maupihaa and Fenua Ura were ten
days sailing from Tahiti (Molyneux n.d.). He told Cook that Mannua lies three days
northeast from Ohetiroa and “... four days sail from Ulietea”, and that Moutou lies
“two days sail” southward from Ohetiroa (Beaglehole 1955:156-57).
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
329
Table 4. List of target islands whose bearings from Pukapuka match those on Tupaia’s Chart.
Table 5. List of target islands whose bearings from Savai‘i match those on Tupaia’s Chart.
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
Mataiva
Mataiva
Tikehau
Rangiroa
Tikehau
Rangiroa
Takaroa
nm
Tahiti
Tahiti
a
b
b
nm
Fakarava
Savaii
a
100
0
Fakarava
Savaii
100
0
Takaroa
Figure 3. Plotting diagram centred on Tahiti.
a) True bearings from Tahiti to the Tuamotus and Savai‘i (off scale).
b) The same bearings superimposed on Tupaia’s Chart, rotated +24°.
Hao
Hao
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
Mataiva
Mataiva
Ahe
Ahe
Kaukura
Kaukura
Takapoto
Takapoto
0
0
nm
nm
100
100
Tahanea
Tahanea
Raiatea
Raiatea
Hereheretue
Hereheretue
a
a
Maataah
Maataah
Oo-ahe
Oo-ahe
Ohevapoto
Ohevapoto
Oura
Oura
Ulietea
Ulietea
Otaah
Otaah
Whaterretuah
Whaterretuah
b
b
Figure 4. Plotting diagram centred on Ra‘iatea.
a) True bearings from Ra‘iatea to the Tuamotus.
b) The same bearings superimposed on Tupaia’s Chart, rotated +30°.
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
332
Nuku Hiva
Nuku Hiva
Ua Pou
Ua Pou
Pukapuka
Pukapuka
Hiva Oa
Hiva Oa
Mataiva
Mataiva
Mehetia
Mehetia
0
0
Tubuai
Tubuai
100
100
nm
nm
a
a
Terouwhah
Terouwhah
Maataah
Maataah
Tetineohva
Tetineohva
Oremaroa
Oremaroa
Opoopooa
Opoopooa
Mytea
Mytea
b
b
Moutou
Moutou
Figure 5. Plotting diagram centred on Mehetia.
a) True bearings from Mehetia to the Tuamotus, Marquesas, Australs and
Northern Cooks.
b) The same bearings superimposed on Tupaia’s Chart, rotated -3°.
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
333
Figure 6. Plotting diagram centred on Pukapuka.
a) True bearings from Pukapuka to the Society Islands, Tonga, Samoa and Tokelau.
b) The same bearings superimposed on Tupaia’s Chart, rotated +62°.
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
00
Rotuma
Rotuma
Uvea
Uvea
Savaii
Savaii
Upolu
Upolu
100
100
nm
nm
Manua
Manua
Tutuila
Tutuila
Mangaia
Mangaia
aa
Oahoo-ahoo
Oahoo-ahoo
Oweha
Oweha
Orotuma
Orotuma
Opooroo
Opooroo
Oheavie
Oheavie
Mannua
Mannua
Otootooera
Otootooera
bb
Figure 7. Plotting diagram centred on Sava‘i.
a) True bearings from Savai‘i to the rest of Samoa, ‘Uvea, Rotuma and the
Southern Cooks.
b) The same bearings superimposed on Tupaia’s Chart, with a backsight to
Mangaia (Oahoo-ahoo), rotated -46°.
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
335
Contrary to the ethnographic examples of Micronesian “island charts”, Tupaia’s
plotting diagrams do seem to occasionally include distance. For voyages up to some
400 nautical miles (nm), about four days sailing (Societies-Tuamotus, Savai‘iManu‘a), the relative positions of his islands often correspond to the actual distances
(Figs 6, 7, 10). For longer voyages of 10 to 15 days sailing (such as the 1,300 nm from
Tahiti to Savai‘i, 900 nm from Pukapuka to Tupai and the 1,100 nm from Mehetia to
Pukapuka), his distances are way off.
The two portions of Tupaia’s Chart that almost work like Cartesian maps include the
islands he knew best, the Leeward and Windward Society Islands, although each of these
pieces or maps has its own scale and orientation (Figs 8, 9). Distances between many of
these islands are almost perfect. Tupaia probably drew them as plotting diagrams, but
the fact that distances and bearings are so accurate converts them into proper maps.
The five plotting diagrams and the two maps account for a total of 39 islands out
of the 74 (Fig. 10). This is a fairly large number considering that we were limited to
working primarily with the previously identified islands. Most of the remainder are
clustered in three sectors of the Chart: the lower right corner with six unidentified
islands lying between Tubuai (Moutou) and Hau (Whaou), presumably in the southern
Tuamotu, Gambier or Pitcairn groups; the lower left margin where seven islands have
“Ohete”8 in their names, which may refer to Fiji (Lewthwaite 1970:11, Fig.7); and the
upper left corner with two previously identified islands in the Southern Cooks (Atiu
and Rarotonga) and three in the Australs (Rimatara, Raivavae, Rurutu).9
Tupai
N
Tupi
Maurua
Maupiti
Borabora
Tahaa
Bola-bola
Huahine
Otahah
Raiatea
Ulietea
0
50
nm
Huaheine
Figure 8. The Leeward Society Islands (outlines) from Tupaia’s Chart
superimposed on the nautical chart (in dark grey). Ra‘iatea, Taha‘a,
Maupiti and Tupai are in their correct relative positions. Borabora and
Huahine are slightly out of place.
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
N
Imao
Tapooa-manue
Maiao
Moorea
Otaheite
Tahiti
Mehetia
0
100
Mytea
nm
Figure 9. Tupaia’s Map of the Windward Society Islands (outlines) from
Tupaia’s Chart superimposed on the nautical chart (in dark grey).
Mo‘orea, Maiao and Tahiti are in their correct relative positions.
Mehetia is out of place.
Cutting and Pasting to Assemble the Chart
All the plotting diagrams and the two maps have different orientations. This
suggests that they were assembled piece by piece rather than drawn all at once to
produce Tupaia’s Chart. Presumably, the best known islands, the Societies, were
depicted first, followed by more distant ones, such as Savai‘i and Pukapuka, whose
locations were probably obtained by rotation, so as to superimpose common islands.
Savai‘i for example occurs on three plotting diagrams (itself, Pukapuka and Tahiti),
as does Mataiva (Tahiti, Ra‘iatea, Mehetia). It may be that when shared names could
not be found, islands or plotting diagrams were relegated to the margins. This could
explain how some of the Australs and Southern Cooks got to the upper left corner.
This unravelling of the Chart also highlights the difficulties of understanding
or sharing knowledge on both sides. Cook, in his own words, believed Tupaia was
drawing a map. Tupaia seems indeed to have tried to include distance in his plotting
diagrams, thereby going beyond the traditional system of representation. Cook clearly
remained fixed in his Cartesian world, adding cardinal points to Tupaia’s Chart. But
both could look at the manuscript and see their own system represented: Cook reading
islands on a grid and Tupaia reading islands radiating out from different centres.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would particularly like to thank Anne Salmond for sharing knowledge on
Tupaia and for bringing Molyneux’s manuscript and the sketch map of the Leeward
Societies to our attention. Thanks also to a couple of anonymous reviewers who
suggested helpful revisions. Horst Dippel and Dieter Heintze, of the Georg Forster
Gesellschaft, and Romy Meyer, of the Stadtarchivs-Braunschweig, were also very
helpful in locating J.R. and G. Forsters’ manuscripts. We are also grateful to The
British Library for permission to publish Figures 1 and 2.
Oheavie
S
Opatoa
Ulietea
Otaheite
Mytea
E
Figure 10. Tupaia’s Chart showing the reconstructed plotting diagrams and maps of the Leeward and Windward
Society Islands. Highlighted islands are discussed in the text. Tupaia’s Chart showing the reconstructed
plotting diagrams and frames around the Leeward and Windward Society Islands.
W
Opoopooa
Opatoarow
N
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree
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A New Reading of Tupaia’s Chart
NOTES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Molyneux, the Endeavour’s Sailing Master, recorded the earliest list of islands
on 13 July 1769. His “extract” of Tupaia’s list contains the names of 63 islands
and the “situation from Otahite” for 57 of them. In a few cases he also gives the
distance in days of sailing (Molyneux n.d.).
Cook’s chosen course southward from Ra‘iatea happened to lie on Tupaia’s
bearing to Ohetiroa. Cook duly sighted Ohetiroa but was not specifically looking
for it. He also noted that he would spend no time searching for any others known
by Tupaia to the southward (Beaglehole 1955:156-57).
Three islands (Oremaroa, Huaheine and Opooru) lack pinholes and two sets of
pinholes are blank, with neither island nor name. Comparison with the Forsters’
charts suggests the latter were O-Toomoo-papa and o-Rimatema.
J.R. Forster’s chart was based on two copies, one from Pickersgill, Master’s Mate on
the Endeavour, which has never been recovered, and another from Banks (Thomas
et al. 1996:310). Forster’s chart has 78 numbered islands with Tahitian names,
including all those on Banks’s copy as well as O-Toomoo-papa (56), o-Rimatema
(60), Tedhu-roa (79) and o-Nateya. His numbers match those that can be faintly
read on the Banks’s copy, indicating that both were based on the same original.
Forster completed Tupaia’s Chart by adding 18 more islands previously discovered
and located by Europeans. To accommodate his additions, he displaced some of
Tupaia’s islands and stretched the East-West axis relative to Banks’ copy.
G. Forster’s chart is similar to Banks’s copy except that three islands (Ohivavie,
Opuro and Wou-wou) have been displaced, one (Orotuma) appears twice and
22 have been left out and replaced with the legend “Copy of a Chart made by a
Native of O’Taheitee, named Tupaïa. Containing about 45° of Longitude”.
The nautical chart used here is a Mercator Projection entitled “Pacific Ocean,
central part” (n° 526), published by the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency 1996.
The number of bearings and islands do not necessarily correspond. For example,
Savai‘i, ‘Upolu, Tutuila, Mataiva and Manu‘a appear on more than one bearing (on
different plotting diagrams), while ‘Uvea and Rotuma lie on the same bearing.
Four of these islands are mentioned in the Tahitian myth of Rata, the great
navigator (Henry 1993:488). G. Forster also noted in the legend of his chart that
“all those [islands] which have Oheti prefixed or affixed seem to have been illunderstood. Oheti signifies something equal to “this is called”, e.g., Oheti-poto
= this is called – Round Island”.
Tupaia knew routes to the Southern Cooks and Australs as shown by the bearings
from Savai‘i to Mangaia and Mehetia to Tubuai (Figs 5, 7). We were not able to
locate the other identified islands in these groups (Atiu, Rarotonga, Rimatara,
Raivavae, Rurutu) on the five plotting diagrams. Nor could we locate Ana‘a and
Apataki in the Tuamotus or the outlying atolls of Fenua Ura and Mopelia in the
Societies. These nine islands may be on plotting diagrams centred on islands not
yet identified on the Chart.
Anne Di Piazza and Erik Pearthree 339
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—— 1963. The Journals of Captain James Cook. The Voyage of the Resolution and
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