NEW WORLDS: EXPLORATION & THE COLONIES - Maps: Their Untold Stories - page 238

CHAPTER SIX
NEW WORLDS: EXPLORATION & THE
COLONIES
The group of islands that make up the British Isles long ago turned its attention beyond its
shores, and so the archives contain many maps of places overseas. Some of these appear in
other chapters where they portray foreign towns, landscapes and seascapes, or the specific fo-
cus of military action. This chapter offers a whirlwind tour of maps that illustrate the story of
the rise and fall of empire. The first map relates the tale of the first English colony in the New
World in 1585. The last records the end of British rule in India after the Second World War.
Maps accompanied the different phases of colonial enterprise such as exploration, colonisa-
tion, boundary definition, and the practicalities of power on a global scale.
In the period of prelude to empire, Europeans explored beyond the boundaries of the world
known to them, and they encountered peoples already living in far-off places. Maps in this
chapter portray how a native American, a Maori priest and an Aboriginal Australian saw their
worlds (' An Indian a Hunting ', Kidnap, kauri trees and the underworld and Kangaroo and
campfire ) . Despite the fact that America was a continent inhabited by numerous indigenous
peoples, early European visitors perceived it as a New World available for discover y, occupa-
tion and exploitation. The map of Raleigh's colony Land of great red grapes is roughly drawn,
but soon more detailed surveys were made to facilitate settlement, as we see on a map which
records a journey in the region of the native Iroquois in what is now upstate New York (' Jour-
ney to the 5 Indian Nations '). Other European powers were also seeking to gain control of the
same areas, so a survey might take the form of military reconnaissance, which could be ac-
companied by danger, as we find in the story behind the map of Creek Indian territory Rescued
by Indians .
From the 17th century the map of empire began to be unrolled. Trade was a major reason
for overseas expansion, with the aim of sourcing raw materials and capturing monopolies in
new markets abroad. A map made for the Royal African Company showing commercial routes
along the West African coast is Elephant and castle . Trading stations of the European powers
proliferated there, as first gold and then slaves were exported; a slave fort is shown A slave
fort . Investigation of Africa's interior came later, in the 19th century. David Livingstone re-
corded that no white man had been seen before in the areas of East Africa he traversed on an
1859 expedition, mapped ' No white man had ever traversed the country before '.