The stories of early interpreters
How a Polynesian priest and skilled navigator became an invaluable intermediary in Captain James Cook’s exploration of the southern Pacific. “It turned out that the Maori could easily understand Tupai’s Tahitian language, which differed from theirs only by a few words …” The Endeavour When Captain James Cook set sail for the Pacific on the Endeavour in August 1768 he had …
How Enrique, a Malay-speaker acquired by Magellan during the siege of Malacca, became an interpreter and go-between as the explorer’s 1519 expedition searched for the Spice Islands. Pigafetta Much of what we know about the fleet initially led by Ferdinand Magellan from 1519 to1522 comes from the man he recruited as his chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta. Without him we would know …