5. How did Mendonca spend his time in Auckland and surrounding islands?

Mendonca’s voyage around the North Island continues.

North of the Bay of Plenty is a small promontory or headland representing a truncated Coromandel Peninsula and an offshore island. This corresponds in both shape and position to the mountainous Great Barrier Island. The island seems to have been drawn on a larger scale. The two harbours on the island’s sheltered western coast are shown in some detail, suggesting Mendonca may have moored there. The harbour of Tryphena, at the southern end of Great Barrier Island, and Blind Bay, further north, are easily recognizable. The Hauraki Gulf and its approaches are littered with small islands. The line of islets between Great Barrier and the mainland may represent the many existing islands.

*Source: Trickett, P. (2007): Beyond Capricorn, East Street Publications.

At the top of the island, the chart depicts a narrow neck of land with a clearly defined harbour on each side. This could be the isthmus on which Auckland now stands, with the Waitemata harbour on the eastern side and the Manukau harbour on the western side. The harbours are correctly shown relative to Great Barrier Island. If this is the case, did Mendonca’s men land on the eastern shores and march inland to sight the harbour on the west? Climbing one of the extinct volcanic cones would have provided panoramic views of the region.

The Vallard Map’s Illa do Magna ends just north of here. The long Northland peninsula is scarcely shown. Mendonca likely exited the Hauraki Gulf by traveling north, over 100 kilometres from the fast-receding mainland coast.

At this point, the Northland peninsula veers northwest, so the land in this direction would have been out of sight, particularly if the journey began at night. In northern Northland, the land is low-lying and not visible from the sea.

Source: Trickett, P. (2007): Beyond Capricorn, East Street Publications.

Besides the Vallard Map what other evidence do we have Mendonca sailed around the North island?

Your next read in the series: 6. What evidence do we have Mendonca visited Wellington Harbour?