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Contents   |   Cook's First Voyage (1768-1771)   |   Cook's Second Voyage (1772-1775)   |   Cook's Third Voyage (1776-1779)
Facts and Artifacts   |   Satire Based on Cook's Voyages, Part One   |   Satire based on Cook's Voyages, Part Two
  The Death of Captain Cook

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Fig. 6.   Frontispiece Illustration from
An Epistle from Mr. Banks...London, 1774
(item no. 44)

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Satire based on Cook's Voyages,
Part Two:
The Affair between
Queen Oberea and Joseph Banks

43. An Epistle from Oberea, Queen of Otaheite, to Joseph Banks, Esq.
    London, 1774.

    This supposed letter from Queen Oberea to Joseph Banks alleges amorous incidents between the two. It was purportedly translated by "T.Q.Z. Esq. Professor of the Otaheite Language in Dublin, and of all the Languages of the undiscovered Islands in the South Sea." Published anonymously in six editions in 1774, it is now attributed to John Scott-Waring.

44. An Epistle from Mr. Banks, voyager, monster-hunter, and amoroso, to Oberea, Queen of Otaheite.
    London, 1774.

    This second edition of Bank's supposed reply to An Epistle from Oberea includes a frontispiece of the naturalist and the queen admiring the tattoos on a young woman in Tahiti. The purported translator, A. B. C. Esq., is described as the "Second Professor of the Otaheite, and of every other unknown Tongue." Enriching the anonymous and pseudonymous aspects of the publication, a false imprint of "Batavia, for Jacobus Opano" is given. Opano was the Tahitian's pronunciation of Joseph Banks's name.

45. A Second letter from Oberea, Queen of Otaheite, to Joseph Banks, Esq. Translated from the original, brought over by His Excellency Otaipairoo, Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from the Queen of Otaheite, to the Court of Great Britain.
    London, [1774].

    This fictional love song depicting Oberea's love for Banks is attibuted to John Scott-Waring, author of the earlier letter entitled An Epistle from Oberea. The letter also includes notes from the first letter and from Hawkesworth's Voyages. The small engraving on the title page is a portrait of the Tahitian envoy (and courier) Otaipairoo.

46. An Epistle (moral and philosophical) from an officer at Otaheite. To the Lady Gr*s**n*r. With Notes, Critical and Historical.
    London, 1774.

    A slightly scandalous poem depicting the amorous customs of Tahitians, this anonymous publication was printed in a corrected and enlarged second edition the following year. The work is now attributed to John Courtenay and most of the notes are from Hawkesworth's account.

47. The injured islanders, or the influence of art upon the happiness of nature.
    London, 1779.

    Supposedly an address from Queen Oberea to the explorer Samuel Wallis, this anonymous poem deplores the effects Wallis's visit had on the Tahitians. Erroneously attributed to Wallis, the author was actually Gerald Fitzgerald. The engraving on the title page shows Wallis and Queen Oberea viewing a dance by young native women. The inscription below the image reads, "New wonder rose, when ranged around for Thee, Attendant Virgins dance'd the Timrodee."