Chart Shewing the Track of the Waaksamhey’d Transport from Port Jackson in New South Wales to Batavia in 1792.

Important hand coloured engraved map of Australia oriented as if viewed from the northern hemisphere and one of only a handful of c.18th maps to focus solely on the continent.

Tasmania is shown joined to the mainland, with an imaginary southern coast and with the east coast shown according to the discoveries made by James Cook on his first voyage. A number of Dutch discoveries are shown, including: Hartog 1616, Houtman 1619, van Leeuwin 1622, Nuyts 1627, de Witt 1628 (incorrectly dated 1618), and Tasman 1642-1644.  The map shows Captain John Hunters return voyage to England on the Waaksamheyd.

The HMS Sirius under the command of John Hunter, had run aground on a reef at Norfolk Island 19 March 1790 and the ships company were consequently unable to leave the island for a year. During that forced stay, Hunter made a detailed survey of the island and in his dispatch of 1 March 1791, Phillip recorded Hunter’s suggestion of a safer landing place at Cascade Bay. Hunter left 27 March 1791 on the hired Dutch vessel the Waaksamheyd and steered a longer course to Batavia via the north coast of New Guinea and the Philippines. On his return to England, Hunter was court-martialed over the loss of the Sirius but was honourably acquitted of all blame. The tracks of his voyage are shown.