<sod>In July 1846 Stokes was promoted to captain and commanded the steam ship {{HMS|Acheron|1838|6}} surveying [[New Zealand]] for four years. This was one of 26 [[Hydrography |hydrography survey]]s conducted by the British Hydrography Office around the world, and was also tasked with investigating natural resources and negotiating between British settles and the [[Māori people|Maori inhabitants]] of New Zealand. Due to budget cuts, ''Acheron'' was replaced by a smaller vessel, the {{HMS|Pandora|1833|6}} from 1851-1856. The charts produced by Stokes remain in use to this day.<ref>{{cite book | last = Quanchi | first = Max|authorlink=| year = 2005 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands | publisher = The Scarecrow Press  | location =  | isbn = 0810853957}}</ref><eod>
<sod>In July 1846 Stokes was promoted to captain and commanded the steam ship {{HMS|Acheron|1838|6}} surveying [[New Zealand]] for four years. This was one of 26 [[hydrography]] surveys conducted by the British Hydrography Office around the world, and was also tasked with investigating natural resources and negotiating between British settles and the [[Māori people|Maori inhabitants]] of New Zealand. Due to budget cuts, ''Acheron'' was replaced by a smaller vessel, the {{HMS|Pandora|1833|6}} from 1851-1856. The charts produced by Stokes remain in use to this day.<ref>{{cite book | last = Quanchi | first = Max|authorlink=| year = 2005 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands | publisher = The Scarecrow Press  | location =  | isbn = 0810853957}}</ref><eod>