ON THE WALLABY- 11th June 2007

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”- Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) - author “Alice in Wonderland”

TUPAIA – THE OVERLOOKED HERO OF CAPTAIN COOK’S ENDEAVOUR VOYAGES

Yesterday I had the great fortune, and pleasure, to attend a Seminar day the Australian National Maritime Museum conducted entitled ”Cook and Endeavour- journeys through time”.

Whilst I had anticipated, (with much salivation I might add, being a James Cookaphile –if such a word exists!) that the day would reveal more about the man James Cook himself,lamentably, this was not to be the case although all the speakers obviously included Cook in the threads of their addresses, and whilst there was disappointment there, it was more than amply covered with the information I came away with.

This principally revolved around the man Tupaia who was person who explained to Captain (then Lieutenant) Cook the intricacies of what we would today call Polynesian navigation whereby the navigation was done by stars, wave patterns and observance of bird flight.

He was born in 1725 and was deemed an ”aroi” or priest, originally from the island of Ra’iatea in what were called The Society Islands (now Tahiti) by Captain Cook. At the insistence of Sir Joseph Banks, the wealthy and influential botanist who funded much of Cook’s Endeavour voyage, Tupaia was taken aboard the Endeavour and accompanied Cook and Banks across the Pacific, around New Zealand, along the east Australian coast and to Batavia (present day Jakarta) where he died in December 1770 of scurvy and malaria.

Thanks to the formidable knowledge of Emeritus Professor Greg Dening (currently Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research ANU and best known for three books of 'magical realism' in maritime anthropology and history: ( Islands and Beaches (1980), Mr Bligh's Bad Language (1992) and Beach Crossings (2004).), this address became an absolute revelation to me.

Through the writings of the late David Lewis and his wonderful book ”We, the Navigators”, I had come to learn something of these incredible navigators so when Professor took to the lectern, I was ready and rearing to go!

Cook's Pacific expeditions are often likened to a space mission into the unknown. Over 10 years he sailed the Pacific from the Arctic to the Antarctic and further than any ship or man had previously gone.

As Professor Dening pointed out, James Cook was surprised-and sometimes shocked-by what he saw on Pacific Islands he was thought to have 'discovered'. He couldn't know that every one of the thousands of islands in this vast ocean had been discovered between 2000 and 40,000 years before him. How these islanders peopled this sea was beyond his comprehension, but he knew that they had a cultural artefact of maritime genius in their va'a, their canoes.

In the Maritime Museum, we celebrated the maritime genius of these peoples of the Sea of Islands. There were two great navigators on the Endeavour, James Cook and Tupaia, Tahitian priest, architect, artist, map-maker. According to Professor Dening, Tupaia's map of the Sea of Islands is the greatest map ever made of the Pacific.

Lamentably, the original map is now lost but Professor Dening kindly supplied us all with a replica and if you are interested in obtaining a copy, please either mail or email me and I will send a copy.

On it, Tupaia showed all the islands within about 600 miles of present day Tahiti and the absolutely incredible thing about it, and its usage, is that it came with “no written instructions”. How to get from A to B was told verbally to the mariner who committed the instructions to memory and having successfully sailed forth (and returned safely) then on told the directions.

The core of Professor Dening’s address was based on the shock that Cook got when he arrived in Tahiti in 1769 to observe the transit of Venus and found that this vast Pacific ocean, the world’s largest had been traversed like a highway for over 3000 years by the Polynesian navigators in their wonderful two hulled vessels.

Originating in Hava’Iki (or homeland - the Fijian, Tongan and Samoan islands), 3000 years ago the navigators headed either north east (and north of the Tuamotu Islands) or south east (south of the Tuomotu Islands) to Fenua'enata (the Marquesas islands).

From here, bringing their plants, crops and animals with them, they spread south east again to Easter Island and north to Hawaii and then in turn, over the next 1000 years, backtracking to Tahiti and New Zealand (Aotearoa).

These skills were known and practiced by Tupaia and after a passage of 600 miles accompanying Cook and Banks in the area of what is now French Polynesia,using these navigational techniques, Cook, the superb navigator that he was, readily acceded to Banks request to have Tupaia accompany them westwards from Tahiti.

His role, however, was not limited simply to navigation for there is no doubt that his communication skills and understanding of how to deal tactfully and honorably with other indigenous peoples saved Cook much heartbreak and tragedy, especially when meeting the fierce Maori tribes of New Zealand.

In his log, (a copy of which was produced as a Limited Edition some years ago by Ray Parkin through Miegunyah Press of Melbourne University and which is one of my proudest possessions) Cook noted that as they entered Botany Bay on Sunday 29th April 1770 “Saw as we came in on both points of the bay several of the natives and a few hutts,men, women and children on the south shore abreast of the Ship , to which place I went in the boats in the hope of speaking with them accompanied by Mr Banks, Doctor Solander and Tupia”

So Tupaia was in the action here in Australia from the first day of European discovery of the east coast (leaving apart the ongoing mystery of the supposed Portugese hull that has appeared from time to time on Stradbroke Island in Queensland!) and whilst Cook’s log does not reveal the fact, Professor Dening stated that in fact, Tupaia was the first person to speak to the Aboriginals on the shores of the bay.

Therefore I agree wholeheartedly with his view that if ever a man earned the honour to have a statue erected in his memory at Kurnell, it was Tupaia – the forgotten man of Cook’s voyages!

Carpe diem Tony

Tony Fountain

Professional Speaker, auctioneer and author

tony@fountainandco.com

Sydney NSW Australia

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