Caught in the crossfire of inter-tribal wars, witnesses to cannibalism and to scenes of both ethereal beauty and chilling terror - the early European explorers of New Zealand were a diverse group of individuals who undertook voyages of sometimes epic proportions through the country. In The Voyagers, Paul Moon tells dramatic stories of Europeans discovering and exploring New Zealand during the first half of the 1800s. Ocean adventures, cross-country trekking, imperial and spiritual conquests, first contacts with Maori, artists seeking the 'sublime', scientific discovery and commercial pursuits all intertwine to form a fascinating portrait of a land undergoing immense change. Jules Dumont d'Urville, Samuel Marsden, Ferdinand von Hochstetter and Charles Heaphy complement an array of lesser known but no less intrepid explorers - soldiers and sailors, travellers and settlers, missionaries, artists and officials - all of whom ventured from their homelands in search of new horizons. The Voyagers is a perceptive and absorbing account of nineteenth-century exploration, and of the very human characters who helped put New Zealand on the map. Also available as an eBook 'Fascinating and revealing . . . this well written and illustrated book is in keeping with the best of [Moon's] many works on New Zealand history.' --Waikato Times 'Offers particular insights into a largely unmapped land and its people . . . very accessible . . . a fascinating, cohesive story.' --Dominion Post

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "When one house dies, a second lives." - Maori proverb By the mid-17th century, the existence of a land in the south referred to as Terra Australis was generally known and understood by the Europeans, and incrementally, its shores were observed and mapped. Van Diemen's Land, an island off the south coast of Australia now called Tasmania, was identified in 1642 by Dutch mariner Abel Tasman, and a few months later, the intrepid Dutchman would add New Zealand to the map of the known world. At the time, the English were the greatest naval power in Europe, but they arrived on the scene rather later. The first to appear was William Dampier, captain of the HMS Roebuck, in 1699, after he had been granted a Royal Commission by King William III to explore the east coast of New Holland. By then, the general global balance of power was shifting, and with the English gaining a solid foothold in India, their supremacy in the Indian Ocean trade zone began. The Dutch, once predominant in the region, began slowly to lose ground, slipping out of contention as a major global trading power. So too were the Portuguese, also once dominant in the region. It was now just the French and the English who were facing one another down in a quest to dominate the world, but their imperial interests were focused mainly in India and the East Indies, as well as the Caribbean and the Americas. As a result, the potential of a vast, practically uninhabited great southern continent did not yet hold much interest. By then the world was largely mapped, with just regions such as the Arctic Archipelago and the two poles remaining terra incognita. A few gaps needed to be filled in here and there, but all of the essential details were known. At the same time, a great deal of imperial energy was at play in Europe, particularly in Britain. Britain stood at the cusp of global dominance thanks almost entirely to the Royal Navy, which emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries as an institution significantly more than the sum of its parts. With vast assets available even in peacetime, expeditions of science and explorations were launched in every direction. This was done not only to claim ownership of the field of global exploration, but also to undercut the imperial ambitions of others, in particular the French. In 1769, Captain James Cook's historic expedition in the region would lead to an English claim on Australia, but before he reached Australia, he sailed near New Zealand and spent weeks mapping part of New Zealand's coast. Cook later asserted that the only major sources of timber and flax in the Pacific region were to be found in New Zealand and Norfolk Island, which would prove crucial to the British Empire and the Royal Navy in particular, and Cook also provided a firsthand account of a tense standoff with New Zealand's indigenous natives on the shoreline. Over the next 90 years, Cook's journey and his account would lay the basis for British activities in the region, and those activities would forge the modern history of New Zealand at a great cost. The European Discovery of New Zealand: The History and Legacy of Early Expeditions and British Settlements on New Zealand analyzes the expeditions that discovered New Zealand and the early settlements and conflicts waged there from 1650-1850. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the European settlement of New Zealand like never before.

The following book is a travel guide to New Zealand, written by James Henry-Kerry Nicholls. He explored the terrains of the country quite extensively, from the southern portion, where the Whanganui River passes through it in a long winding course to the sea; the west, where the Mokau River and its tributaries flow from its central region to the coast; the north, where the Waipa Puniu and various other streams, having their sources in the Titiraupenga and Rangitoto Mountains, wind through it to the Waikato River; and the southeast, where the snow-clad heights of Tongariro and Ruapehu pour down their rapid waters in a perfect network of creeks and rivers.

"Weaving together geography, natural philosophy and human history, this book tells - often in their own words - of the exploration of the great French naturalist-voyagers, their scientific hunger to discover new lands and document their people, plants, animals and minerals, their relationships with Maori and the desire of France to compete with the British in the Pacific. "--Publisher's description.

The extraordinary sixty-thousand-year history of how the Pacific islands were settled. 'Takes readers on a narrative odyssey' Wall Street Journal, Books of the Year 'Highlights a dizzying burst of new research' The Economist 'A refreshing addition to the canon of literature that contemplates Oceanic navigation' Noelle Kahanu 'I would not be surprised if, after reading this masterpiece, many readers are compelled to take up voyaging themselves' Science Magazine Thousands of islands, inhabited by a multitude of different peoples, are scattered across the vastness of the Pacific. The first European explorers to visit Oceania, from the sixteenth century on, were astounded and perplexed to find populations thriving so many miles from the nearest continents. Who were these people and where did they come from? In Voyagers, the distinguished anthropologist Nicholas Thomas charts the course of the seaborne migrations that populated the islands between Asia and the Americas. Drawing on the latest research, including insights gained from linguistics, archaeology, and the re-enactment of voyages, Thomas provides a dazzling account of these long-distance migrations, the sea-going technologies that enabled them, and the societies that they left in their wake.

Dr. Orchiston is a foremost authority on the subject of New Zealand astronomy, and here are the collected papers of his fruitful studies in this area, including both those published many years ago and new material. The papers herein review traditional Maori astronomy, examine the appearance of nautical astronomy practiced by Cook and his astronomers on their various stopovers in New Zealand during their three voyagers to the South Seas, and also explore notable nineteenth century New Zealand observatories historically, from significant telescopes now located in New Zealand to local and international observations made during the 1874 and 1882 transits of Venus and the nineteenth and twentieth century preoccupation of New Zealand amateur astronomers with comets and meteors. New Zealand astronomy has a truly rich history, extending from the Maori civilization in pre-European times through to the years when explorers and navigators discovered the region, up to pioneering research on the newly emerging field of radio astronomy during WWII and in the immediate post-war years. A complete survey of a neglected but rich national astronomical history, this does the subject full and comprehensive justice.

Containing more than 600 entries, this valuable resource presents all aspects of travel writing. There are entries on places and routes (Afghanistan, Black Sea, Egypt, Gobi Desert, Hawaii, Himalayas, Italy, Northwest Passage, Samarkand, Silk Route, Timbuktu), writers (Isabella Bird, Ibn Battuta, Bruce Chatwin, Gustave Flaubert, Mary Kingsley, Walter Ralegh, Wilfrid Thesiger), methods of transport and types of journey (balloon, camel, grand tour, hunting and big game expeditions, pilgrimage, space travel and exploration), genres (buccaneer narratives, guidebooks, New World chronicles, postcards), companies and societies (East India Company, Royal Geographical Society, Society of Dilettanti), and issues and themes (censorship, exile, orientalism, and tourism). For a full list of entries and contributors, a generous selection of sample entries, and more, visit the Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia website.