The stories of early interpreters
Sir Walter Raleigh’s early attempts at settlement in Virginia informed the approach taken by the next wave of English colonists. Thomas Harriot’s Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia and engravings based on John White’s illustrations were well known, others had written memoirs and Native Americans had travelled to England. Wee our selves have taught them how to be treacherous …
In 1584, Elizabeth I granted Walter Raleigh the right to explore and settle any land on the North American continent that was held by non-Christians. Raleigh’s attempts at settlement came to grief but their story reveals something about the role played by interpreters in early English colonialism. We brought home also two of the Savages being lustie men, whose names …
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 …