Artwork Information

This engraving is after a small oil painting by Captain Robert Elliot in collection of the National Library of Australia which has the same title as the print and is dated 1821. The print was made to illustrate the published recollections of missionary William Ellis. In the book entitled 'Polynesian researches, during a residence of nearly six years in the South Sea Islands', Ellis recalls his mixed emotions upon setting sight on Fare, thinking that it might be home for the rest of his life. He comments, ‘All was rich and luxuriant in vegetation, but it was the richness and the luxuriance of a wilderness; scarcely a trace of human culture could be seen.’

The book was first printed in 1830, but this illustration comes from the 1859 edition. (Te Moananui a Kiwa, 2005)