The South Seas, as this region used to be called, conjured up images of adventure, belles and savages, romance and fabulous fortunes, but the long voyages of discovery and exploration of the vast Pacific Ocean were really an exercise in amazing logistics, navigation, hard grit, shipwreck and pure luck. The motivations were scientific and geographic, but at the same time nationalistic and materialistic. A series on global exploration and discovery would not be complete without this book by Quanchi and Robson. It is ambitious and informative and includes the familiar names of Laperouse, Bougainville, Cook and Dampier, as well as the intriguing stories of the Bounty Mutiny, scurvy, and the mysterious Northwest Passage, Terra Australis Ignotia and Davis Land. There are entries on first contacts, ships, navigational instruments, mapping, and botany. The scene is carefully set in the introduction, the chronology spans several centuries, and the extensive bibliography offers a guide to further reading. There are more than just dry facts in this book. It has a whiff of salt air, the clash of empires, cross-cultural beach encounters and personal adventure.

Volume 16 contains all known documents about the first scientific expedition to the Pacific. The Malaspina Expedition visited Guam in 1792 and was led by Commander Alexandro Malaspina. His work and that of his twelve officers appear in this volume. Administrative records are also included. Notable among these are documents concerning a visit to Guam by Carolinian canoes from Lamotrek and a vocabulary of the Carolinian language.

This final volume in the series contains: an annotated bibliography of printed works about Micronesia arranged in chronological order; a list of ships that visited the islands from Magellan's time to the modern era; and a cumulative index of volumes 1-19.

Take a journey back to the uncharted oceans with the most celebrated European explorers! Interest in Southeast Asian history and culture is higher than ever before. Ancient cartography of Oceania holds mysteries as old as time--were these early ocean maps molded as much by fantasy as fact? Early Mapping of the Pacific bravely delves into all the questions surrounding the history of maps. The Pacific Ocean remained a mystery to mapmakers until the latter part of the eighteenth century. This book traces the European exploration and charting of the vast ocean through a cornucopia of beautiful maps stretching from Japan on the northwest, through Juan Fernandez Island on the southeast, with the various islands of Oceania the primary focus. It follows the history of mapmaking from Classical times up to the turn of the twentieth century. The ancient seafarers who ventured eastward from Asia, and were the Pacific's true pioneers, left no maps. They still helped make cartography history, thanks to the navigational genius their descendants passed to European visitors. Thus, the Pacific as we now know it was formally born when the colonization of America partitioned the seas between Europe and Asia into two. This gorgeous edition presents nearly 300 rare Asia maps and early prints, compiled by expert Thomas Suarez. Topics addressed include: The Pacific Islands and Their People Mariners, Mapmakers and the Great Ocean The Pacific Evolves after Magellan In the Wake of the Solomon Islands Earliest Mapping of Australia and New Zealand The Age of Enlightenment The Three Voyages of James Cook The Discovery of Tahiti and Hawaii Micronesia, the Elusive Isles Surveyors, Whalers, and Missionaries You, too, can share in the wonder of these explorers' vast geographical and cultural discoveries, and the voyages that led to them, in this comprehensive cartography book.