Cook's Discovery of Mangaia and Atiu
- When
- 1777
- Where
- Mangaia, southern Cook Islands; Atiu, central-southern Pacific
- Episodes
- 2
On 29 March 1777, during his third Pacific voyage, Captain James Cook became the first recorded European to reach Mangaia, and two days later he sighted Atiu, making tentative contact with some of its inhabitants. These discoveries came after the expedition's February 1777 anchorage in New Zealand.
Episodes
- First European arrival at Mangaia
Captain Cook reached Mangaia on 29 March 1777, the first recorded European visit to the southern Cook Island.
- Sighting and tentative contact at Atiu
Cook sighted Atiu on 31 March 1777 and made tentative contact with some of its inhabitants over the next few days.
Background and detail
Background. Captain James Cook was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led three Pacific voyages between 1768 and 1779. On his third expedition he again commanded HMS Resolution, while Captain Charles Clerke commanded HMS Discovery. The expedition had stopped at Kerguelen Island in December 1776, at Bruny Island in Tasmania at the end of January 1777, and anchored in New Zealand in February 1777.
Arrival at Mangaia. Mangaia, traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua or 'terraced island', is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and its second largest island after Rarotonga. Europeans first came to the island on 29 March 1777 with the arrival of Captain James Cook, making this the first recorded European visit.
Sighting and Contact at Atiu. Atiu, also known as ʻEnuamanu, meaning 'land of the birds', lies in the central-southern Pacific Ocean as part of the Cook Islands archipelago. Cook sighted the island on 31 March 1777 and made tentative contact with some of its people over the following days.
Context within the Voyage. The discoveries fell between the expedition's February 1777 anchorage in New Zealand and its later October 1777 stay at Mo'orea in Tahiti. Atiu lies in the Cook Islands archipelago of the central-southern Pacific Ocean.
People involved
- Captain James Cook · Commander of HMS Resolution and leader of the expedition; first recorded European to arrive at Mangaia and to sight Atiu
- Captain Charles Clerke · Commander of HMS Discovery on the third voyage
Sources
- Mangaia Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-26
- Atiu Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-18
- James Cook Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.