6. What evidence do we have Mendonca visited Wellington Harbour?

Mendonca’s chart of Wellington Harbour is meticulously detailed, highlighting key features that could only be captured through firsthand experience. The harbour would have been an ideal location for the Portuguese to make repairs and replenish their fresh water supply after enduring a storm off Australia’s eastern coast.

Over the years, evidence has surfaced supporting Mendonca’s presence in Wellington Harbour. Around 1900, the Wellington Museum acquired an iron helmet found in the harbour, which was confirmed to be of sixteenth-century European origin. This helmet bears a resemblance to those housed in the Lisbon Military Museum. In 1926, a Wellington Harbour Authority dredge unearthed a large iron cannonball, typical of the Spanish Armada of 1588, which was subsequently donated to the Wellington Museum. Portuguese ships fought under Spanish command in 1588.

The origins of these items have been the subject of much speculation. One theory suggests the presence of a sixteenth-century Portuguese vessel in Wellington Harbour. In the early 1900s, New Zealand historian WJ Elvy interviewed an elderly Māori who recounted a tradition from a Wellington iwi describing the arrival of a large square-rigged vessel. The crew, armed with swords and lances, wore shiny coats of armour that caused the Māori’s stone weapons to fall off. The multi-racial crew included fair-skinned and darker individuals, likely Portuguese officers accompanied by Indian, Malay, or Indonesian crew members. The references to swords and plate armour indicate a sixteenth-century vessel, predating the times of Tasman or Cook.

A British chart published in 1817 accurately depicted ‘Cook Straits’ and also referred to the area as the ‘Gulf of the Portuguese 1550’. The cartographer noted that while ‘New Zeeland’ was discovered and named by Tasman in 1642, the coast was known to the Portuguese around 1550. An earlier version of this chart, published in 1803, contained the same information.

How credible do you believe this supports a visit by Mendoca around 1522?