Introduction & Credits

Latest Byron, Wallis, de Carteret and Cook-related issues

Last updated 5 September 2008.

Updated some of the flags used, including the new Tokelau flag.

Wallis et Futuna have issued a single stamp and miniature sheet to commemorate the 240th anniversary of the discovery of Uvea Island by Samuel Wallis in the Dolphin in 1767.

Norfolk Island issued a set of stamps and miniature sheet for the Pacific Explorer World Stamp Expo in Sydney, Australia. The set features exploration of the Pacific and includes Captain Cook as one of its themes. (21 April 2005)

French Polynesia has issued a 250fr. stamp featuring Omai, the first Polynesia to visit England. (14 October 2004).

The Marshall Islands issued three se-tenant stamps showing Famous Ships (14/Feb/2004). Two of these stamps show Cook's Resolution.

Nederlandse Antillen joined the nations issuing Cook stamps in 2003. They issued a sheetlet of 12 stamps showing ancient sailing vessels, one of which shows the Endeavour Replica 'Earl of Pembroke'.

Prelude: the Anson expedition

The story begins in 1740 with the expedition led by Lord Anson. Most of the ships in the fleet were lost near the Juan Fernandez Islands, and the surviving crew of HMS Centurion endured years of dreadful hardship before getting back to Britain. They did however manage to capture a Spanish treasure galleon, which in part made up for the earlier disasters. The experience discouraged the Admiralty from any further adventures for the next twenty years.

Byron's voyage in the Dolphin and Tamar

In 1764, George III persuaded the Admiralty to send out a new expedition to explore for new lands in the Southern hemisphere. It was to be under the command of Commodore John Byron, one of the survivors of the Anson expedition. The two ships used were the experimental copper-bottomed Dolphin and the Tamar. They were fitted out under the pretence that they were to be sent to the East Indies. They left Britain on the 3rd July 1764, stopping at Madeira, Las Canarias, and Cabo Verde, before crossing the Atlantic to Brazil. Late 1764 and early 1765 were spent surveying Patagonia, where they reported meeting with giant locals, the Straits of Magellan and the Falkland Islands, where Warrahs, the Falklands 'wolf', attacked some of the sailors. Getting through the Straits of Magellan and into the Pacific took six frustrating weeks with the ships often being blown back where they came from.

By the time the ships came to what is now French Polynesia, the crew were suffering quite badly from the scurvy, and this had a major influence on the conduct of the voyage through the Pacific. They were desperate to restock with fresh supplies, in particular coconuts and fresh vegetables for the sick. However, the local inhabitants opposed any landings with shows of arms, and coupled with the difficulty of anchoring near to the coral atolls, prompted Byron to name them the Islands of Disappointment. The ships went on to Pukapuka in the Northern Cook Islands, which Byron called the Island of Danger. Then whilst searching in the supposed latitude of the Isles of Solomon, they came across the uninhabited atoll of Atafu in the Tokelau Islands. Despite the difficulties due to lack of safe moorings, boats were sent to the island to pick up supplies. These included 200 coconuts and quite a few seabirds that were so tame as to be easily caught by the sailors. They then went on to the Gilbert Islands and the Marianas, before heading back to Britain via the Philippines, Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope and St. Helena. The whole journey had taken about 22 months by the time they reached Britain on the 9th May 1766. At the time this was the fastest ever circumnavigation of the globe, but the discoveries in the Pacific were very limited and the Admiralty made rapid plans to send the Dolphin back to the Pacific.

Wallis's voyage in the Dolphin & Carteret's in the Swallow

The second Dolphin expedition was under the command of Samuel Wallis, and was accompanied by Captain Carteret in the sloop Swallow, and the store-ship Prince Frederick. Carteret had sailed with the first expedition, starting out on the Tamar before being promoted to First Lieutenant on the Dolphin. The Swallow was in no fit state to undertake the journey in the first place, and was separated from the Dolphin whilst entering the Pacific. It was presumed by Wallis that the ship had been lost and was reported as such when they reached Britain in May 1768. Cook believed this to be the case when he left in the Endeavour on his first voyage. Against all the odds, the Swallow had actually survived and whilst limping back to Britain made some important discoveries including Pitcairn Island, and around the Solomon Islands and Northern Islands of modern Papua New Guinea. The Swallow eventually got back to England in March 1769.

Wallis discovered the island of Tahiti, which he named King George's Island, and also the islands to the west of Samoa that now bear his name.

James Cook's three voyages

From 1758 until 1767, Cook surveyed the East Coast of Canada. After the Seven Years War between Britain and France, it was Cook who surveyed the islands of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, before they were handed over to the French.

He spent most of the period 1768 to 1779 sailing to, from and around the Pacific. His voyages ended when he was killed in a dispute over a stolen boat in Hawaii on February 14, 1779. His discoveries and probably more importantly the standard of his charting expanded the knowledge of the Pacific considerably. Amongst his achievements were the charting of New Zealand and the East Coast of Australia. He is also remembered for overcoming the scourge of scurvy on long voyages by use of anti-scorbitants. Scurvy had killed 26 of the crew of his first long voyage to Canada on HMS Pembroke in 1757.

About two hundred years later, many of the places that Cook and the others visited, issued postage stamps to commemorate the voyages. These pages list the countries visited by the explorers and all the stamps issued as far as I can tell. I've tried to include the Antarctic Territories at suitable points in the itineraries although even Cook didn't actually reach the coast of Antarctica. He did however circumnavigate the continent over the years, and managed to narrow down the position of any southern continent to below the Antarctic Circle.

The navigation bars to the left allow you to step through each of the six voyages and Cook's early period of surveying in Canada. There is also a navigation bar for all the countries and this allows you to find the countries that weren't visited but who have issued related stamps.

There is much more work to be done on these web pages. If you know of any major omissions, please let me know.

Email me: Michael Taysum.

Credits

I used the following books and sources to compile this information:

'A Voyage Round the World undertaken and performed by the Hon. Commodore Byron' (1790). Printed for A. Millar, W. Law, and R. Carter in London.

'A Voyage Round the World performed by Capt. Samuel Wallis, esq.' (1790). Printed for A. Millar, W. Law, and R. Carter in London.

'A Voyage Round the World undertaken and performed by that Neglected and Gallant Officer Capt. Philip Carteret, esq.' (1790). Printed for A. Millar, W. Law, and R. Carter in London.

'The Journals of Captain Cook' (1999) selected and edited by Philip Edwards published by Penguin Classics (ISBN 0-14-043647-2)

'Captain James Cook' (1994) a biography by Richard Hough, published by Coronet (Hodder & Staughton). (ISBN 0-340-61723-3)

'Stamp Catalogue, Part 1: British Commonwealth, 1999 Edition' (1998) published by Stanley Gibbons. (ISBN 0-85259-446-1) and the Catalogue Supplements published in Gibbons Stamp Monthly from September 1998 onwards.

'Collect Ships On Stamps, 3rd Edition' (2001) by Peter Bolton published by Stanley Gibbons. (ISBN 0-85259-486-0)

'Captain Cook Stamp Checklist' by Brian Sandford, published by the Captain Cook Society.

'Cook Chronology' compiled by Paul Capper, and published by the Captain Cook Society in Cook's Log (1985-1996).

'Encarta World Atlas 99 (CD-ROM)' (1998) published by Microsoft Corporation. (0798 Part No. X03-70906)

The flags used are from the CIA World Fact Book.