Australasia.

Scarce miniature c.19th map of Australia with the discoveries made by James Cook on his first voyage of exploration which included the east coast of Australia and New Zealand. The map shows Van Diemens Land and the mainland are separated by a strait named, Basses Strait. The incorrect spelling of Bass Strait is derived from Flinder’s and Bass’s chart of Tasmania which showed the strait for the first time which was published by Aaron Arrowsmith on 16th June 1800.  This was the first chart solely devoted to the discoveries made by George Bass on the Tom Thumb, along the Victorian coast to Western Port in 1797-1798 and Matthew Flinders’s and George Bass’s circumnavigation of Tasmania in the Norfolk in 1798-1799, that proved its insularity and the existence of Bass Strait.  On Flinder’s return to London he made corrections to the chart which included correcting the mispelling of the title.

The  southern coast is shown blank and uncharted.