1769 Transit of Venus observed from Tahiti 1769 Transit of Venus observed from Tahiti On June 3, 1769, British navigator Captain James Cook, British naturalist Joseph Banks, British astronomer Charles Green and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander recorded the transit of Venus on the island of Tahiti during Cook's first voyage around the world. During a transit, Venus appears as a small black disc travelling across the Sun. This unusual astronomical phenomenon takes place in a pattern that repeats itself every 243 years. It includes two transits that are eight years apart, separated by breaks of 121.5 and 105.5 years. These men, along with a crew of scientists,
Lapwing (1769 EIC packet) Lapwing (1769 EIC packet) Lapwing was a packet ship that made two round-trips to India for the British East India Company (EAC). Currently, both her origin and her fate are obscure. Captain Henry Gardiner left The Downs on 6 June 1769, bound for Bengal and Madras. "Lapwing" left Kolkatta on 24 August 1770 and on 12 October was at Madras. She reached the Cape on 16 December and St Helena on 6 January 1771, and arrived back at The Downs on 16 April. "Lapwing" stopped at Falmouth before reaching The Downs and Captain Gardiner came overland to London. He brought