Story: Perceptions of the landscape
This hand-coloured engraving is based on a sketch by H. D. Spöring, the assistant naturalist on Cook’s first voyage. When the Endeavour stopped for water at Cook’s Cove, he sketched this arched rock because, as his boss Joseph Banks noted, it was ‘an extraordinary natural curiosity’. Later on the trip, Sydney Parkinson copied Spöring’s drawing, turning it into a picturesque, romantic image. Another artist produced this engraving in 1784, adding a Māori figure and several mariners.
About this item
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: B-098-024
Hand-coloured engraving based on a sketch by Herman Diedrich Spöring
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.