Why Captain Cook tried to erase this island from his maps

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1770, James Cook surveyed the waters around Stewart Island and made a startling decision: he intentionally altered his charts to make the island appear as a peninsula, effectively hiding its existence from the rival nations of the world.

The island, known in Māori as Rakiura—meaning 'glowing skies'—is the third-largest inhabited island in New Zealand. While its beauty is legendary, its history is marked by strategic cartographic secrecy. During his first Pacific voyage in 1770, Captain James Cook identified the Foveaux Strait, the passage separating the island from the South Island. However, fearing that the island's strategic value would attract Britain's maritime rivals, Cook attempted to erase the strait from his journals and redrew his charts to depict the island as part of the mainland.

Historians like Robert McNab have questioned whether this was a deliberate act of disinformation or a simple error. While some argue Cook was merely uncertain due to unfavorable conditions, the evidence of his revised charts suggests a calculated military policy of concealment. It wasn't until later explorers, such as Owen Folger Smith in 1804, charted the strait, that the island's true insularity was confirmed to the wider world.

Today, the island's identity is a blend of colonial and indigenous heritage. The name Stewart Island/Rakiura was officially unified via the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998. The landscape remains largely wild, with over 80 percent of the land forming Rakiura National Park. It serves as a vital sanctuary for species like the flightless Stewart Island kiwi and the endangered yellow-eyed penguin, standing as a remnant of the ecosystem that existed before the arrival of many invasive predators.

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