The King and a principal lady of Tahiti, c 1773.

Portraits of Otoo, king of Otaheite and Tynai-mai, a principal lady, taken during Captain Cook's second Pacific voyage. Otaheite is now known as Tahiti, part of French Polynesia. From 'Complete History of Captain Cook's First, Second and Third Voyages' (1784). Captain James Cook (1728-1779), the famed navigator and hydrographer, transformed the West's knowledge of the Pacific region after making three exploratory voyages there and circumnavigating the globe twice. During this second voyage (1772-1775), in the 'Adventure' and 'Resolution', Cook and his crew crosed the latitude 70 degrees, the furthest south then reached by Europeans.