Description
No. 21 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849 - 52. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. Fanshawe's view appears to be looking east across Vairou Bay towards the wooded outer reef of Bora Bora, from high ground below a peak (? Mount Otemanu) on the right. The 'chief village' mentioned is Vairou on the bay below. Fanshawe and others had set out at 5.30 a.m. in the morning to sail round the island in his gig. Having encountered the chief from Vairou in a canoe at sea, they called there prior to making this climb: 'We procured a guide, and after a steep pull for a mile and a half through a forest of guava, hibiscus and "Tahitian chestnut" we reached the pah [fort], a ruin partly stone, partly stockade, and overgrown with guava. We had a good view of the different shades and colours of the sea inside and outside the reefs' (Fanshawe [1904] p.212). See also PAI4626 for details of the island. 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
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Country
French Polynesia
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
