Engraving, Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands drinking kava, Pl. 20 of A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore

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TitleEngraving, Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands drinking kava, Pl. 20 of A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Captains Cook, Clerke, and GoreDate1785About this objectThis engraving belongs to a set of illustrations from the book, “A voyage to the Pacific Ocean undertaken, by the command of His Majesty, for making discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. Performed under the direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in His Majesty’s Ships the Resolution and Discovery in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779 and 1780 in three volumes”. It depicts Poulaho, the king of the Friendly Islands – now known as the Kingdom of Tonga – participating in a Kava ceremony. The event takes place inside a ceremonious space, where a group of men sit in a semicircle, with Poulaho in the centre.

James Cook (1728-1779) undertook three voyages to the Pacific, and this book documents his third and final expedition, conducted during 1776 and 1779, with the primary objective to search for a Northwest Passage, an ice-free sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Cook commanded Resolution, with John Gore serving as first lieutenant, while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery. Following Cook’s death at Kealakekua Bay in Hawai’i on 14 February 1779, and Clerke’s subsequent death from tuberculosis later that year, Gore took overall leadership of the expedition to its conclusion. The two ships returned to England on 4 October 1780, completing the voyage after over four years at sea.

The 1776-1780 voyage has a pivotal place in the history of Enlightenment exploration, combining imperial ambition with scientific inquiry. It was during this voyage that Cook discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which he named Sandwich Islands. The voyage also resulted in coastal charts of the Pacific and generated extensive ethnographic knowledge through the recording and visual representation of local people and landscape encountered across the Pacific.Object No.2013.2-12Inscriptions & marksPoulaho, King of the Friendly Islands, drinking kava / J. Webber del. / W. Sharp sculp.SourceLa Perouse MuseumOrganisations (Detailed entries)La Perouse Museum (La Perouse, N.S.W.)ThemesEuropean arrivals

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Engraving, Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands drinking kava, Pl. 20 of A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore