This hand-colored, detailed chart of "The Islands of Orkney" is one of 48 harbor and coastal charts that was illustrated in the publication, Great Britain's Coasting Pilot. The book was the first systematic survey of British coastal waters, and it continues to be a landmark publication in British hydrography.
In 1681, Samuel Pepys assigned Captain Greenville Collins to undertake the survey with measuring chain, a compass and a lead-line. It took Collins eight years to complete and was published to great acclaim in 1693. Collins was the hydrographer of King Charles II of England.
Designed as a navigational tool, the chart includes anchorage sites, rhumb lines, and shoal markings. It also indicates depth and the directions of the tides. The cartouche in the upper right notes how the islands once belonged to Denmark, but now to Scotland. The lower left cartouche indicating the dedication depicts the royal coat of arms with battle armaments, figures like Poseidon, a whale, and the scale.
