Omai

Eric H. McCormick

• Publisher: Auckland University Press
• Year: 2013
• eBook ISBN: 9781775585992

Omai was the first Polynesian to visit Britain. Picked up by one of Cook's captains, he was carried to England where he became a human curiosity and the lion of fashionable London. He was presented at Court, examined by scientists and painted by a series of artists. He learned to skate and play chess, and developed a liking for the theatre. At the end of two years he was taken back to the Pacific by Cook who left him at the island of Huahine. In this landmark book, McCormick creates a portrait of Omai and a picture of his two worlds, the Polynesian and the European.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• 1. Mai and the European Discovery of Tahiti
• 2. Between Voyages
• 3. The Voyage of H. M. S. Adventure
• 4. Mr Banks, Lord Monboddo, Dr. Hawkesworth, and Others
• 5. The Advent of Omai
• 6. Omai in Society
• 7. Omai and the Return of the Resolution
• 8. Omai's Farewell
• 9. Omai on the Resolution
• 10. Omai's Homecoming
• 11. The End of Omai
• 12. Omai in Europe - the Literary Aftermath
• Postscript
• Sources
• References to Sources
• Index