James Cook - Copy of 1770 Chart. North Island

Printed Copy of the Island or Aeheinomouwe - Print size 27cm x 37cm

Lieutenant James Cook drafted the first complete and remarkably accurate chart of New Zealand's coastline in 1770. Titled A chart of Newzeland or the islands of Aeheinomouwe and Tovypoenammu lying in the South Sea, it identified the North Island as "Aeheinomouwe" (Te Ika-a-Māui).

Cook circumnavigated and mapped the entire country during his first voyage on the HMS Endeavour. While his chart is highly precise, it contained a few famous mapping quirks:

Key Features of Cook's Chart:

• Aeheinomouwe (North Island):
  The most heavily surveyed and densely named section of the chart, particularly along the northeast coast.

• Banks Peninsula:
  Mapped as an island, as Cook could not discern that it was connected to the mainland.

• Stewart Island:
  Depicted merely as a peninsula (Cape South), connected to the South Island.