Gold Fleet for California: Forty-Niners from Australia and New Zealand by Charles Bateson

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Foxing to top foredge. Light wear to the dust jacket. Dust jacket is now enclosed in a glossy protective cover. Interior and binding are still excellent.

When gold was discovered in California in 1848, a rush began that, within two years, drew 250,000 people from around the globe. It was the greatest migration since the Crusades.

7,000 Australians and New Zealanders responded to the lure. They jostled for berths in ships making the long haul to San Francisco - vessels ranging from big sailing ships to little cutters of under 20 tonnes, some of them unseaworthy and many of them shockingly overcrowded and under-provisioned.

In 1849-50, there were over 200 sailings from Australia and NZ. Few of these 49ers struck it rich. Life on the goldfields was hard, and many were glad to earn the price of a ticket home.

Contains a list of sailings to California from Australian ports, 1849-50.

Contents:

• Migration in mass
• The news comes to Australia
• The rush begins
• Racing across the Pacific
• The streamships that did not sail
• Enter pirates!
• The bankrupts and the absconders
• Joint stock and co-operative ventures
• The rush grows
• The ships and their voyages
• The passengers and their experiences
• Australia, the new El Dorado
• Includes illustrations, references and index