Revisiting the sites of contact between Cook's crews in Dusky Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound, as well as places in Europe where botanical specimens, indigenous artefacts, and the voyagers' documents ended up, the authors examine the traces of the past, opening up ambiguities and avoiding easy judgements about these early meetings.

Photographer Mark Adams and writer Nicholas Thomas revisit the sites of contact between Cook's crews in Dusky Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound, as well as places in Europe where botanical specimens, indigenous artefacts, and the voyagers' documents ended up. They examine the traces of the past, opening up ambiguities and avoiding easy judgements about these early meetings. The volume is extensively illustrated with black-and-white photographs.