French Polynesia island of Rekareka to the southeast of Tahiti. Over a century later, British explorer Samuel Wallis visited Tahiti in 1767. French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville also visited Tahiti in 1768, while British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769. In 1772, the Spanish Viceroy of Peru Don Manuel de Amat ordered a number of expeditions to Tahiti under the command of Domingo de Bonechea who was the first European to explore all of the main islands beyond Tahiti. A short-lived Spanish settlement was created in 1774, and for a time some maps bore the name "Isla de Amat" after Viceroy
RMS Tahiti efforts. The court found both the crew and officials who had certified the ship′s compliance with standards of seaworthiness blameless in the sinking, stated that the breaking of a propeller shaft was a common event at sea but the level of damage sustained by "Tahiti" in the breaking of her propeller shaft was exceedingly rare, and determined that "Tahiti"′s sinking was "due to a peril of the sea which no reasonable human care or foresight could have avoided." The court commended "Tahiti"′s master, T. A. Toten, for displaying "resource and cool accurate judgment worthy of the highest praise," said that