Antique map and coastal view of Adventure Bay, Tasmania. Captain Tobias Furneaux named the bay after his ship HMS Adventure in March 1773, after being separated from Captain James Cook during the second voyage.

The unknown southern land (Terra Australis Incognita) was known as New Holland after the Dutch charted the west coast when blown off course during voyages to the Spice Islands (Indonesia). Captain Cook's discoveries which were so important they were re-issued in other countries and languages as soon as his voyages were published in England.

title: Gezicht van de Zuidzijde van de Avontur-Baai / Plan van de Avontuur-Baai aan van Diemens-Land.

Captain James Cook is considered one of the most talented Surveyors & Map Makers of any age, for Cook, the production of a new chart was his principal reason for going to sea. His charts were aimed at fellow seamen so he incorporated as much information as possible while employing an economy of style and little elaboration. The quality of his charts can be confirmed by the fact that some survey details from Newfoundland to New Zealand & Australia’s East Coast could still be safely used over one hundred years later. His last piece of the New Zealand hydrographic chart was only removed in the 1990s.

Prior to the Endeavour voyage in 1768 to the South Seas, most existing charts of the Pacific were poor and imprecise and were virtually useless to Cook. Cook, therefore, had a largely blank canvas when he entered the Pacific. Four charts produced by Cook in the Pacific, during his 1st voyage, serve to demonstrate his ability and output. The charts of Tahiti, the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) New Zealand & the East Coast of Australia.