Description
No. 33 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849 - 52. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. The view looks out to the bay beyond the trees, with Fanshawe's ship, 'Daphne' at anchor on the left. He had left Fiji on 13 October for Tonga, but on the 16th had fallen ill with dysentery and been confined to his cot during their visits there. His first lieutenant, Lacy, had undertaken his intended calls on the local Wesleyan missionaries, starting at Tongataboo. He also visited 'King George' of Tonga, on Lifuka in the Hapai group, 'one of the most intelligent and statesmenlike of the South Sea chiefs', who subsequently dined on board with the other officers. (He also brought his child prodigy son, aged three, who had already been offered education by the Governor of New Zealand.) The last stop was at Vavao before returning to Apia on 2 November, when Fanshawe wrote: 'I left my cot and took possession of an unoccupied house, where, notwithstanding the unceasing attacks of the mosquitoes, I rapidly recovered my strength. I stayed here a week and then went to spend two days at Vailele, three miles from Apia, with Mr and Mrs Williams, the American consul and son of the celebrated missionary [John Williams]..' (Fanshawe [1904] pp 245-46). 'Daphne' had also returned to Apia to land George Pritchard, the British Consul who had accompanied the ship to Fiji and Tonga, and to whom the house Fanshawe used as 'sick quarters' belonged. Fanshawe's illness was severe: he had to be carried ashore at Apia and was only well enough to walk some days later, which accounts for the absence of any drawings of Tonga. He rejoined the ship off Vailele on 12 November and they made a 40-day passage back to Valparaiso, arriving on 22 December. One of four views in Samoa done while Fanshawe commanded the 'Daphne'. From an album of watercolours of Madeira, Brazil, the Falkland and Pacific Islands, Chile, Panama, Mexico, Vancouver, and California. It covers Fanshawe's commission in command of HMS 'Daphne' 1848-52, on the Pacific station based at Valparaiso, Chile, under Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby in the 84-gun 'Asia'. The earliest dated drawing is of Madeira, 1 January 1849 on the way out, and the last of Cape Horn on the return, 28 May 1852. For further details, see collection online record.
Image Licence
CC BY-NC-ND
Image Credit
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Location
Apia Bay, Samoa
Country
Samoa
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
