Isles de la Reine Charlotte

Rigobert Bonne’s map of the Queen Charlotte Islands off the northern Pacific coast of Canada.

This map of Queen Charlotte Islands was published in 1787 by Rigobert Bonne, and is based upon the explorations of James Cook, Juan Perez, and other contemporary European explorers.

Now called Haida Gwaii, after the local native population, the islands situated off Canada’s coast, south of Vancouver played an important role in the late 18th and early 19th century maritime fur trade. The name “Queen Charlotte” was given from the name of a British merchant ship engaged in the fur trade who visited in the island two years prior to publication, in 1785.

The map shows only partial coastal detail along the north end of the main island, and includes two insets of navigable bays and depth measurements. Apparently the party was not very creative with their naming – L’Hirondelle (a ship, the tracks of which are shown on the map) is given to an island, a bay and a point!