An animal found on the coast of New Holland, called Kanguroo

This engraving of a kangaroo on the coast of New Holland (now Australia) was done after a drawing by Sydney Parkinson. Parkinson was a Scottish botanist and natural history artist employed by Joseph Banks on Captain James Cook's first Endeavor voyage to the Pacific from 1768-1771. The drawing was then engraved in John Hawkesworth's Voyages (an account of the journeys by Captain Cook, Vice Admiral John Byron, and Joseph Banks published on behalf of the Admirality in 1773). Captain Cook (1728-1779) made three separate voyages to the Pacific (with the ships Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure, and Discovery) 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 in Hawaii in 1779.

The kangaroo first appeared as a symbol of Australia in 1773 with the publication of accounts of Captain Cook's voyage to the Pacific. Joseph Banks then commissioned George Stubbs to make a portrait after this drawing.

Mounted in album with PAI3938-PAI3988, PAI3990-PAI4076.; Page 45.; Typewritten title stuck below image.; Plate No.20.

Object Details

ID: PAI3989
Type: Print
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Parkinson, Sydney
Date made: 1770
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 239 x 272 mm
Parts: Atlas to Cook's Voyages Vol I 1773-1777. (Illustrations are from Hawkesworth's 'Voyages to the Southern Hemisphere', all volumes, and Cook [ed. Douglas] 'A Voyage towards the South Pole... ' [1773-75], page 70 onwards) (Album)
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