Captain James Cook (1728-79) made three separate voyages to the Pacific and did more than any other voyager to explore the Pacific and Southern Ocean. Cook not only encountered Pacific cultures for the first time, but also assembled the first large-scale collections of Pacific objects to be brought back to Europe. He was killed on Hawaii in 1779.

Otaheite (Tahiti) was originally named King George the Third's Island by Captain Samuel Wallis (1728-1795).

William Hodges (1744-97) was draughtsman and painter on Cook's second expedition to the South Pacific, 1772-75 in the Resolution' (accompanied by the 'Adventure') and was subsequently employed by the Admiralty both to develop oil paintings from it for them and work up drawings for engraving in the official published account of the voyage, which also included prints from some of the smaller official paintings. All the oils done for the Admiralty are now in the NMM collection.

Cook described the Otaheite war canoes as containing 16 paddlers, warriors in ceremonial dress on the fighting stage, and a man with a 'wand' directing the paddlers. This engraving is based on the small oil painting which is now NMM BHC2395. It also relates to the large ger exhibited version, BHC2374, and all of them to a very large drawn study (nearly 2m wide) by Hodges among the colllection of his drawings from the voyage now in the British Library. For other copies of the print see PAI4065 and PAI4066.

Mounted in album with PAI2055-PAI2093, PAI2095-PAI2127.; No.37.