page_title: First Russian Antarctic Expedition
section_title: Researching New Zealand and Tuamotus
hierarchical_section_title: First Russian Antarctic Expedition / Expedition / Sailing to Australia and Oceania (March–November 1820) / Researching New Zealand and Tuamotus
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Михайлов Павел Николаевич - Военные пляски Южной Новой Зеландии
context_page_description: The First Russian Antarctic Expedition took place in 1819–1821 under the direction of Fabian Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The expedition aimed to reach the Southern Ocean in order to prove or disprove the existence of a suspected sixth continent, Antarctica. The sloop Vostok was under the command of Bellingshausen, while Lazarev commanded the sloop Mirny. Overall, the crew consisted of 190 people.
  Due to extreme haste in equipping the voyage, it was impossible to assemble a science team. Thus, almost all scientific observations in the fields of geography, ethnography, and natural history were conducted by officers and the only scientist on board – associate professor Ivan Mikhailovich Simonov, who taught at the Imperial Kazan University. A novice painter, Pavel Mikhailov, was hired to depict the events, landscapes, and biological species encountered during the expedition. His paintings of the South Shetland Islands were used in English sailing directions until the 1940s.
  The Russian Antarctic expedition ended in complete success and became the second expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica after James Cook's expedition a half century earlier.
context_section_description: In the open sea, the crew found out that one sailor from "Vostok" and few from "Mirny" caught up a sexually transmitted disease in Port Jackson. This type of diseases was especially widespread in Australia which was at that time a place where convicts were sent from Britain. Vessels did not escape may storms, and the crew got used to pitchings and winds. However, the calm that suddenly established at 8 pm on May 19 provoked a strong lateral pitching, because of which "Vostok" scooped up so much water from the scavut netting that the water level in hold increased from 13 to 26 inches. Also, the stream of water in the mess crushed lieutenant Zavodskoy. Scattered gun cores that rolled from side to side made it difficult to repair the damage. Pitching continued for the next day as well. On May 24 at 7 am, travellers reached New Zealand and anchored in the Queen Charlotte Sound to make contacts with Māori people. Bellingshausen used Cook' maps and descriptions. Historian Barratt named the following events as "comparative ethnography session". These ethnographic observations turned out to be extremely important since the places that Russian sailors had visited were connection points between tribes of North Island and South Island. In 1828 colonizers destroyed hapū notes, and Mikhailov' depictions became historical sources of paramount importance.
  The expedition left New Zealand on June 3. Since this time of the year corresponded to December of the Northern Hemisphere, by June 5 the sloops got to the epicentre of a strong squall with rains and hails, which calmed down only by June 9. Using ship forest that was made while the crew visited Māori people, on June 17, the crew started to repair ships in the open sea. They sewn up the sails, reduced the main yard  on "Vostok" for 6 feet, set high coamings on hatches, and etcetera.
  On June 29, the expedition reached Rapa Iti. On July 5, the crew saw on the horizon Hao island that was also familiar to Cook. On July 8, Russians discovered Amanu. During their attempt to land, Bellingshausen, Mikhailov, Demidoff, Lazarev, Galkin, Novosilsky, and Annenkov, were attacked by locals who were quite hostile towards the foreigners. Overall, more than 60 warriors hindered the landing on the northern coast.
  Such a resistance made us come back. This resistance is coming, obviously, from the absolute ignorance of our firearms and our superiority. If we decided to kill several locals, then, of course, all others would start to run, and we have an opportunity to land. However, satisfying my curiosity from a quite close distance, I did not have any desire to be at that island… <...> When we were quite far from the island, then women ran out of the forest on the seaside and lifted their clothes, showing us the lower parts of their bodies, clapping hands on them, others were dancing as if they wanted to show us how weak we were. Some of the crew members asked permission to punish them for insolence and shoot at them, but I did not agree.
  On July 10, the sloops reached Fangatau, on July 12 they discovered Takume and Raroia, on July 14 – Taenga, on July 15 – Makemo and Katiu, on July 16 – Tahanea and Faaite, on July 17 – Fakarava, on July 18 – Niau. Locals were hostile almost everywhere; thus Bellingshausen actively used artillery and salutes from coloured rockets launched at night, believing that fear would be the best guarantee against attacks. One of the few exceptions was Nihiru island that was first described on July 13. Islanders came close to ships on canoe and suggested pearl and fishing hooks, cut out of seashells. The eldest of locals was fed with dinner at the officers' table, was put in red hussar uniform, and given silver medal with the image of Alexander I on it. Bellingshausen asked native rower to bring a young woman on board, whom they gave earrings, mirror, and a piece of red cloth to which she immediately wrapped, while her clothes were left for ethnographic collection. Officers were surprised that woman hesitated while changing clothes since it directly contradicted European description
caption: Military dances of South New Zealand in the Queen Charlotte Sound on May 30, 1820.[118] From the P. Mikhailov's album
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