A Human Sacrifice, in a Morai, in Otaheite.

Title

A Human Sacrifice, in a Morai, in Otaheite.

Captain Cook in Tahiti.

ca. 1775

Artist

Perousse, de La (1741-1788)

Jean-François de Galaup de La Pérouse was a French navigator, circumnavigator, and geographer of the Enlightenment. He began his naval career at age 15 and added a noble title to his name to improve his prospects. During the Seven Years' War, he sailed to places including Quebec. From 1772 to 1776, he explored the Indian Ocean and participated in the American Revolutionary War. For his achievements, he was ennobled. In 1785, he set out on a major Pacific expedition with the ships Astrolabe and Boussole, accompanied by scientists from various fields. The journey took him through Patagonia, Cape Horn, Easter Island, Hawaii, Alaska, California, Macau, and East Asia, where he mapped seas and coastlines. He was the first European to deliberately refrain from claiming unknown islands. In 1787, his second captain, Paul Fleuriot de Langle, was killed by locals on Samoa.

Historical Description

Tahiti was settled - like the other Society Islands - around 200 BC from Tonga and Samoa. It is not conclusively clear which European can be considered the "discoverer" of Tahiti. The Portuguese Pedro Fernández de Quirós sighted an inhabited island in 1606, which he called Sagittaria and which, according to some chroniclers, could have been Tahiti. However, there is no confirmation of this. Today, the Englishman Samuel Wallis is considered the first European to set foot on Tahiti in 1767. The visits of James Cook have remained in the consciousness of Europeans. In April 1769 he anchored with his ship Endeavour in Matavai Bay, about 10 km north of today's Papeete. Traveling with Cook was botanist Joseph Banks, who conducted extensive botanical studies during his three-month stay. His findings led to the fateful 1787 voyage of the Bounty to Tahiti, which was commissioned by the British Admiralty to William Bligh.