The Journal of John Sweatman: A Nineteenth Century Surveying Voyage in North Australia and Torres Strait edited by Jim Allen and Peter Corris

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges, particularly at spine tail. Foredges have sunned. Sticky tape stain on front endpage. Previous owner has signed title page. Dust jacket has wear to edges with some separation of laminate from backing. Dust jacket is now enclosed in protective covering. Body text and binding are still very good.

During the first half of the 19th century, many voyages of discovery were filling in gaps on maps of the Australian coast. Expeditions were also searching the treacherous Torres Strait for a safer and shorter route to south-east Asian ports, instead of the long voyage around the north coast of New Guinea. The Journal of John Sweatman is an account of one such journey in 1849-50.

The journal of John Sweatman, then in his early 20s, is a significant example of the 19th-century shipboard journal genre, and gives a personal and perceptive view of his fellow voyagers that is characterised by warmth, humanity, self-revelation and humour. As well, Sweatman recorded in detail his observations of the indigenous peoples of Torres Strait and New Guinea, and of the ports of Sydney, Fremantle and Moreton Bay.