This violence culminated on 26 June, when the Dolphin bombarded a crowd on top of one of the islands hills. The Dolphin’s cannons fired on the Tahitian canoes, destroying several and killing many of their crew. There followed a week of cat and mouse encounters, which ended in serious violence. ![]() However, it became apparent to Wallis that the islanders were suspicious of this intrusion from the sea and were determined to take control of the ship. This initial encounter seemed friendly enough and one of the islanders came on board the Dolphin. Map of Matavai Bay, drawn by William Bligh, 1792. ![]() At daybreak they found themselves confronted by more than 150 canoes – the Dolphin had in fact arrived at the island of Tahiti, which Wallis named King George’s Island. The officers speculated that this must at last be the southern continent and headed for the nearest land. On 19 June, the Dolphin’s crew sighted what appeared to be mountains to the south. By the beginning of June, the crew was desperately in need of fresh provisions and searching for a place to land. The two ships lost contact and did not meet again during the course of the expedition. Catalogue ref: ADM 352/364īy the second week of April, the Dolphin had left the western entrance of the Straits and entered the Pacific. Chile: Straits of Magellan (Estrecho de Magallanes): ‘Good Luck Bay’. Nevertheless, Wallis and his colleagues undertook exploration and surveying, producing a number of charts illustrating hydrology and topography. The passage took three months of struggle against north and west gales. The Dolphin then began the most difficult part of the voyage – navigating the Straits of Magellan. Wallis found that although the tallest was six foot seven, most of the adult men were between five foot ten inches and six foot, with robust physiques. The Patagonians were willing to have their height measured. The two groups exchanged friendly greetings and gifts, but Wallis had also taken along a measuring rod. Heavily armed, in case anything went wrong, Wallis and some of his companions went ashore. Samuel Wallis describes measuring the height of Patagonians, 17 December 1766. DOLPHIN: Log kept by Captain S Wallis, folio 16. ![]() As the ship stood off Cape Virgin Mary, near the entrance to the Straits of Magellan, the crew saw hundreds of men on horseback riding down the Cape towards the ship. ![]() Wallis and Robertson were intrigued by myths of the giants of Patagonia and had a chance to investigate further. The journey across the Atlantic was relatively uneventful and December 1766 found the expedition off the Patagonian coast. The plan was to cross the Atlantic, negotiate the Magellan Straits and then to explore the Pacific at as southern a latitude as possible to look for terra australis incognita, the supposed great southern continent. Wallis and his crew left Plymouth on the 21 August 1766, accompanied by the supply ship HMS Swallow, captained by Philip Carteret. George Robertson was a keen observer of the human condition and kept a valuable journal, which was later published as a book ( ADM 51/4539). This time Captain Samuel Wallis, with master George Robertson, was in charge. The second voyage left Plymouth on 21 August 1766. The Dolphin’s first circumnavigation took place between June 1764 and May 1666, under the captaincy of Commodore John Byron, younger brother of the famous poet Lord William Byron. The voyages are described in several captains’ and officers’ log books now to be found in the Admiralty records. The ship chosen for two voyages to the South Pacific during the 1760s was the frigate, HMS Dolphin. The end of the Seven Years War in 1763 saw a revitalisation of British interest in exploring the southern Pacific, as more funds became available to the Admiralty.
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