• Title : A Human Sacrifice in a Morai, in Otaheite
• Ref  :  61219
• Size: 20 3/4in x 15in (525mm x 380mm) 
• Date : 1784
• Condition: (A Very Good Condition

Description:
This scarce first-edition large antique print, plate #25, the first plate engraved of the Tahitian Islands and people, of the controversial human sacrifice witnessed by Cook and his men in Matavia Morai, Tahiti was drawn by John Webber (Cooks official onboard artist) and expertly engraved by William Woollett for the official, British Admiralty-sanctioned account of Cooks journey: "A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean... In Three Volumes. Vol. I & II and Atlas, written by James Cook & Capt J Clerk, F.R.S. Vol. III in London, 1784.

Cook's ships Resolution and Discovery reached Tahiti on 12 August 1777, anchoring in Vaitepiha (Oaitipeha) Bay on the island's eastern peninsula after leaving Tonga. This was Cook's fourth visit to the island, and one of his aims was to return Omai (Mai), the Raiatean man who had travelled to England, to the Society Islands. Cook found that Tahitians were eager for red feathers, which the crews had collected in Tonga, and these became the most valued trade goods, far more than iron. Local people also told him about Spanish ships that had visited in 1774, and he saw the wooden cross they left, which had a Latin inscription claiming the island for Spain. Cook had his own inscription added to the cross. Later in the month, on 24 August, the ships moved to Matavai Bay on the northern coast, where Cook met the paramount chief Tū, later known as Pomare I. Cook stayed at Tahiti until late September, and in that time he witnessed a human sacrifice at a marae, a ceremony that disturbed many of the crew and became one of the most discussed episodes of the voyage.

Exceptional and highly sought-after large museum quality prints, perfect for collectors of Captain Cook history, maritime art, and early Australian, Pacific & Polar exploration.

General Definitions:
Paper thickness and quality: - Heavy and stable
Paper color : - off white
Age of map color: -  
Colors used: -  
General color appearance: -  
aper size: - 20 3/4in x 15in (525mm x 380mm)
Plate size: - 19in x 11 1/4in (480mm x 285mm) 
Margins: - Min 2in (50mm)

Imperfections:
Margins: - Light age toning
Plate area: - Light creasing
Verso: - Light creasing

Background:
Captain James Cook's third and final voyage (1776–1780) set out from Plymouth to search for a Northwest Passage between the Pacific and Atlantic, sailing via the Cape of Good Hope and the Kerguelen Islands before visiting Tasmania and New Zealand and threading through the Pacific islands — Tonga, Tahiti, and the Society Islands — over the course of 1777. In January 1778 Cook became the first European to reach the Hawaiian Islands, which he named the Sandwich Islands, and from there sailed to the west coast of North America, charting the coastline from Oregon up through Nootka Sound, Unalaska (Alaska), and the Bering Strait into the Arctic Ocean, where pack ice forced him to turn back in August 1778. He wintered in Hawaii, anchoring at Kealakekua Bay in January 1779, where a dispute with islanders turned violent and Cook was killed on 14 February 1779. Command passed to Charles Clerke, who made one more unsuccessful attempt at the Northwest Passage before the expedition sailed home via Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia) , Macau, and the Cape of Good Hope, finally reaching England in October 1780.

Captain James Cook's third and final voyage A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean... In Three Volumes. Vol. I & II and Atlas, was illustrated in the original 1784/5 atlas containing 2 maps and 61 prints, engraved after John Webber's drawings (Cooks official artist on the voyage) by various engravers. Below is each location visited by Cook and later Capt. Clerk with the dates and corresponding prints.

Kerguelen Islands (Christmas Harbour) — 25 December 1776 
• Plate 4 — A View of Christmas Harbour, in Kerguelen's Land

Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Adventure Bay — January 1777 
• Plate 6 — A man of Van Diemen's Land 
• Plate 7 — A woman of Van Diemen's Land 
• Plate 8 — An opossum of Van Diemen's Land

Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand — February 1777 
• Plate 10 — The Inside of a Hippah in New Zeeland

Mangaia, Cook Islands — March–April 1777 
• Plate 11 — A man of Mangea

Tongan (Friendly) Islands — April–July 1777 
• Plate 13 — A view at Anamooka 
• Plate 14 — The reception of Captain Cook, in Hapaee 
• Plate 15 — A boxing match, in Hapaee 
• Plate 16 — A night dance by men, in Hapaee 
• Plate 17 — A night dance by women, in Hapaee 
• Plate 18 — Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands 
• Plate 20 — Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands, drinking kava 
• Plate 21 — A Fiatooka (Morai), in Tongataboo 
• Plate 22 — The Natche, a ceremony in Tongataboo 
• Plate 23 — A woman of Eaoo

Tahiti (Otaheite) — August 1777
• Plate 25 — A human sacrifice, in a marai 
• Plate 26 — The body of Tee, a chief, as preserved after death 
• Plate 27 — A young woman of Otaheite, bringing a present 
• Plate 28 — A dance in Otaheite 
• Plate 29 — A young woman of Otaheite, dancing

Huahine, Society Islands — October–November 1777 
• Plate 31 — A view of Huaheine

Christmas Island (Kiritimati) — December 1777 
• Discovered on this leg of the voyage; not separately plated

Kauai (Atooi), Hawaiian Islands — January 1778 (first European landfall in Hawaii) • Plate 33 — A Morai, in Atooi 
• Plate34 — The inside of the house, in the Morai 
• Plate 35 — An inland view, in Atooi

Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island — March–April 1778 
• Plate 38 — A man of Nootka Sound 
• Plate 39 — A woman of Nootka Sound 
• Plate 40 — Various articles, at Nootka Sound 
• Plate 41 — A view of the habitation in Nootka Sound 
• Plate 42 — The inside of a house in Nootka Sound 
• Plate 43 — A sea otter

Prince William Sound, Alaska — May 1778
• Plate 45 — A view of Snug Corner, in Prince William Sound 
• Plate 46 — A man of Prince William Sound 
• Plate 47 — A woman of Prince William Sound

Unalaska (Oonalashka) — June and October 1778 
• Plate 48 — A man of Oonalashka 
• Plate 49 — A woman of Oonalashka 
• Plate 50 — Canoes of Oonalashka 
• Plate 56 — Caps of the natives of Oonalashka 
• Plate 57 — Natives of Oonalashka, and their habitations 
• Plate 58 — The inside of a house, in Oonalashka

Norton Sound and the Chukchi Coast, Siberia — August 1778 
• Plate 51 — The Tschuktschi, and their habitations 
• Plate 54 — Inhabitants of Norton Sound and their habitations

Arctic Ocean, near the Bering Strait — August 1778 (Cook turned back by ice) 
• Plate 52 — Sea horses (walruses)

Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii (Owyhee) — January–February 1779 (Cook killed 14 February 1779) 
• Plate 60 — An offering before Captain Cook, in the Sandwich Islands 
• Plate 61 — Tereoboo, King of Owyhee, bringing presents to Captain Cook 
• Plate 62 — A man of the Sandwich Islands, dancing 
• Plate 63 — A young woman of the Sandwich Islands 
• Plate 64 — A man of the Sandwich Islands, with his helmet 
• Plate 65 — A canoe of the Sandwich Islands, the rowers masked 
• Plate 66 — A man of the Sandwich Islands, in a mask 
• Plate 67 — Various articles, at the Sandwich Islands 
• Plate 68 — A view of Karakakooa, in Owyhee

Kamchatka, St Peter and St Paul Harbour (Petropavlovsk) — spring and summer 1779 
• Plate 70 — A man of Kamtschatka, travelling in winter 
• Plate 71 — A sledge of Kamtschatka 
• Plate 72 — A view at Bolcheretzkoi, in Kamtschatka 
• Plate 73 — A white bear 
• Plate 74 — A view of the town and harbour of St Peter and St Paul 
• Plate 75 — A man of Kamtschatka 
• Plate 76 — A woman of Kamtschatka 
• Plate 77 — Summer and winter habitations, in Kamtschatka 
• Plate 78 — The inside of a winter habitation in Kamtschatka

Return to England — October 1780

John Webber (1751–1793) was a Swiss-born British artist who served as the official expedition artist on Cook's third voyage, tasked with visually documenting the peoples, landscapes, and events the ships encountered. His drawings — later engraved as the 61 plates in the atlas accompanying the 1784 official account — provided some of the first detailed European depictions of Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest coast, and other Pacific and Arctic locales, including the scene of Cook's death at Kealakekua Bay. Webber was elected a full Royal Academician in 1791 and continued to exhibit landscape work until his death in 1793.