'Bora bora, Septr 4th 1849' [Society Islands]

No.20.; 13. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. Bora Bora is an island in the leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, about 230 km (140 miles) north-west of Tahiti, and is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the centre of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, the highest point at 727 metres (2385 ft). The Tahitian name is better rendered as Pora Pora, meaning 'first born' and early Western transcriptions also call it Bolabolla or Bollabolla. The main settlement is Vaitape on the western side, under Mount Pahia, opposite the main channel through the outer reef. This is the view Fanshawe shows here from seaward.

This is one of a group of eleven Fanshawe drawings of the Society Islands, PAI4616 - PAI427, made while he commanded the 'Daphne' in the Pacific: three are of Bora Bora (PAI4625 - PAI4627).

Object Details

ID: PAI4625
Type: Drawing
Display location: Not on display
Creator: Fanshawe, Edward Gennys
Places: Bora Bora
Date made: 14 Sep 1849; 4 September 1849
Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements: Sheet: 227 x 325 mm
Parts: Album of watercolours of Madeira, Brazil, the Falkland and Pacific Islands, Chile, Panama, Mexico, Vancouver, and California (Album)
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