THE FIRST NEW ZEALAND PILOT (1842)

Turnbull Library Record, Volume I, Issue 2, 1 November 1967, Page 19

THE FIRST NEW ZEALAND PILOT (1842)

Sheila Williams

In 1965 the library took advantage of a welcome opportunity to purchase privately in England a volume of maps entitled on the spine New Zealand Pilot. In this collection are 22 maps, bound as listed below, all but one being hydrographic charts published by the Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty. All these charts are in mint condition and have obviously never been used for navigational purposes. Up to and including 1845 the Hydrographic Office published a total of 23 charts of New Zealand coastal harbours and waters and of these 21 are in the present collection. The two lacking are those of Akaroa Harbour and chart 1273 an early survey of Port Nicholson which was superseded by chart 1423 following E. M. Chaffers survey in 1839. The Turnbull Library has the most complete holdings in the country of nineteenth century hydrographic charts and previously lacked nine out of a total of 78 recorded hydrographic charts of New Zealand published before 1900. 1 Five of the nine charts previously lacking are included in the present collection.

Chart Title Survey Publication no date date 1212 The islands of New Zealand compiled from the voyages of Captain Cook and all the subsequent British and French navigators no date 1838 1089 Lauristonßay 1769 1781 1092 Wangaroaßay 1834 borfeil 1836 1090 Bay of Islands 1824,1830-321836 1275 Tutukaka Harbour and Nongodo River 1837 1840 1093 Shouraka Gulf and the mouth of the River Thames 1769-1834 1836 1349 Wai-temata Harbour 1840 1841 1094 Kiahow Harbour 1834 1836 1423 Port Nicholson 1839 1842 1091 Shookianga River no date 1833 1414 Tory Channel 1839 1841 1097 Torrent Bay and Astrolabe Road 1827 1836 1272 Port Underwood in Cloudy Bay 1837 1840 1096 Current Basin 1827 1836 1098 Port Gore 1834 1836 1328 Rouabouki Road 1839 1840 1595 Tokolabo and Koko-Rarata bays 1840 1844 1694 Wakaroa 1840 1845

Chart Title Survey '• Publication no date date 1281 Doubtful Harbour/Anchor Island harbour/Facile harbour/Pickersgill Harbour 1793/1791 1840 1099 South west extreme of New Zealand from M. Duperrey’s atlas 1824 1840 1095 Port Hardy 1834 1836 In the first half of the nineteenth century the Hydrographic Office did not always note corrections and reissues made to charts so alterations were made to maps which were republished without changing the date of publication. Consequently it is not always easy to tell whether these were first or later editions. It appears that all but six of these charts are the first issues, the others all being reissued before 1846. Chart 1212 although dated 1838 is not the first issue as it does not show the mythical Taranaki Bay on the south Taranaki coast which was charted on all

New Zealand maps between 1838 and 1840. The existence of this bay was not finally disproved until 1840 as the reviewer in the New Zealand journal of James Wyld’s map of New Zealand noted ‘the harbour of Taranaki, which far eclipsed all others in the older maps, has been omitted in this, for the very excellent reason that it has no existence in fact’. 2 Chart 1090 of the Bay of Islands is a second edition, an earlier one being published in 1833. Chart 1093 does not include the original soundings for Waitemata harbour and with the note ‘see plan’ referring to chart 1349 of Waitemata harbour published in 1840 must be after that date. The copy in this collection of chart 1349 is however not the first edition as published in 1840 but an edition published the following year. Chart 1097 of Torrent Bay and Astrolabe Road was originally published with the title Blind Bay, Western shore. Both editions bear the date 1 July 1836 but apart from the title there seem to be no significant differences. Chart 1099 of the south west extremity of New Zealand was first published in 1833 entitled South point of T’Avai Poenammoo. This copy has corrections on it up to Tune 1840.

The remaining map in the collection is one by Charles Heaphy which has not previously been reported as being held in New Zealand although it is listed in the British Museum Catalogue of the printed maps, plans and charts. London, 1885. Vol 1. col 897. This is a map entitled: ‘Cook’s strait, New Zealand. Compiled from the charts of Captain Cook and the more recent English and French navigators; with additional surveys and soundings by Charles Heaphy esqre, draftsman to the first and second expeditions under the New Zealand Company. London: Smith Elder and co., 1842. Sr .; This shows an area of the North Island from Taranaki round to Cape Palliser and in the South Island from Rocky Point to Cape Campbell

with insets of Port Hardy, Current Basin, Port Underwood, Torrent Bay and Astrolabe Road, Port Nicholson, Tory channel and Nelson haven. It also includes sailing directions for Port Nicholson and Cook’s strait This covers the same area as a map already held by the library published by James Wyld on 6 March 1841, entitled: ‘To the New Zealand Company, This chart of Cook’s strait compiled from original surveys is dedicated by their obliged servant James Wyld.’ The Heaphy map although omitting names used in the Wyld map is much more accurate and clearly incorporates later information. By a strange distortion of the coast line on the map by Wyld, Stephens Island, off the North east tip of D’Urville Island is shown approximately opposite the entrance to the Manawatu river and Cape Farewell opposite north of Waitotara. These errors do not occur in later editions of maps by Wyld but other errors persisted even as late as 1858. These include not showing Porirua Harbour which is clearly marked on the Heaphy map and the Waikanae river on the Wyld map is marked as much longer than it actually is.

The greatest persistent area is perhaps around Cape Egmont where the Heaphy coastline closely resembles present day mapping whereas the Wyld map shows many inegular indentations, perhaps put in as Captain Mein Smith principal surveyor of the New Zealand company suggested ‘to break the uniformity of the [coast] line’. 3 Even though the existence of Taranaki Bay had been disproved there is mapped a nonexistent Patea harbour and Egmont Bay, the latter persisting on other editions of maps during the 1850’s. > li! The sailing directions for Port Nicholson and Cook’s strait arc basically those of Captain E. M. Chaffers, commander of the New Zealand Company’s ship Tory, as forwarded by him to the directors of the

New Zealand company on 8 October 1839. 4

REFERENCES 1 Hargreaves, R. P. Nineteenth century hydrographic charts: a preliminary checklist. New Zealand libraries 27:7 1964 p 206-10 and additions 29:9 1966 p 179. 2 New Zealand journal 1 no. 22, 21 November 1840, p 281. 3 New Zealand journal 2 no. 38, 3 July 1841, p 162. 4 New Zealand journal 1 no. 8, 16 May 1840, p 99-101.