The Tuamotu Islands and Tahiti (Pacific Maritime Studies Series, Vol. 10) - Hardcover

Barratt, Glynn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0774804092 ISBN 13: 9780774804097

Publisher: Univ of British Columbia Pr, 1992

Synopsis

The final volume in the quartet of books on the naval, scientific, and social activities of the Imperial Russian Navy in the South Pacific, this book focuses on the expeditions to Tahiti and the dangerous atoll chains to its east, known as the Tuamotus. Under the command of Captains Otto von Kotzebue and F. Fellingshausen, expedition members were the first to chart several of the Tuamotu islands. They also theorized correctly about coral reef and atoll formation, botanized, and collected ethnographica in a systematic way.

Glynn Barratt has made full use of Russian primary materials in describing the sites and individuals the visitors encountered. Contemporary aquarelles and drawings by the expeditionary artists Ludovik Choris and Pavel N. Mikhailov provide pictorial evidence. These are complemented by descriptions and photographs of many of the artifacts gathered by the Russian officers and now available to scholars in archives in St. Petersburg and Estonia.

In this book, as in the previous volumes in the series, Barratt dispels the myth that the Russians were landlubbers. He points out that highly educated and perceptive Russian scientists and naval officers made contact with aboriginal people in many parts of Oceania. Unlike their counterparts from other European nations, the Russians never made territorial claims and they took pains not to provoke hostility in the islanders.

About this title

About the Author

Glynn Barratt is a professor of Russian at Carleton University and author of many books on Russia’s naval and diplomatic history.

Edition details

• Publisher: Univ of British Columbia Pr
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774804092
• ISBN 13: 9780774804097
• Binding: Hardcover