Samuel Wallis
Samuel Wallis (1728 –1795) served under John Byron and, in 1766, was promoted to command H.M.S. Dolphin. Accompanied by Phillip Carteret in H.M.S. Swallow, he was to search for Terra Australis Incognita, sailing westwards from Cape Horn losing as little Southing as possible.
He was to return via Cape Horn, standing as far to the south as possible. However, if the winds carried him too far to the north, his instructions allowed him to come home via the East Indies.
A storm parted the ships shortly after passing through the Strait of Magellan. Carteret discovered Pitcairn Island, the Carteret Islands, a new archipelago between New Ireland and New Britain north of New Guinea, rediscovering the Solomon Islands.
After spending more than a month in Tahiti's Matavai Bay, Wallis moved on to the Marianas via the Society, Tuamotu and the Marshall Islands.
A stopover in Batavia saw many of his crew die from dysentery. Still, he returned to England around the Cape of Good Hope in May 1768 with vital information for James Cook's expedition to observe the Transit of Venus.
Wallis went on to become a Commissioner of the Admiralty.
