How did James Cook map New Zealand during his 1769–70 voyage?

During his 1769–70 voyage, the British explorer James Cook mapped New Zealand by circumnavigating its two major islands, a difficult task that took six months to complete.12

By sailing around the coastline, Cook successfully completed the work begun by the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who had previously only sighted a portion of the western coast in 1642. Cook’s efforts resulted in charts of remarkable accuracy, which effectively corrected the earlier European belief that the region might be the edge of a great southern continent. During this process, Cook and the naturalist Joseph Banks also conducted the first systematic observations of Māori life and culture.13