Trim: The Cartographer's Cat: Ship's Cat Who Helped Flinders Map Australia by Matthew Flinders, Gillian Dooley and Philippa Sandall

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Ex library copy with all external stickers removed. Partial date due slip on inside page, now covered with a blank ex libris bookplate sticker.

Not many ships' cats have even one memorial statue, let alone six. But Trim does, including one outside Euston Station in London, proudly unveiled by Prince William on the bicentenary of Matthew Flinders's death – 19 July 2014.

Trim was the ship's cat who accompanied Matthew Flinders on his voyages to circumnavigate and map the coastline of Australia from 1801 to 1803.

He lived quite an adventurous life. As a tiny kitten, he fell overboard at sea but managed to swim back to the vessel and climb back on board by scaling a rope. This cemented his position as Flinders's beloved companion, and together they survived a voyage around the world, the circumnavigation of Australia and a shipwreck.

When Flinders was imprisoned by the French in Mauritius in 1803, Trim shared his captivity until one day, he mysteriously disappeared – which heartbreakingly Flinders attributed to his being stolen and eaten by a hungry slave.

Trim, The Cartographer's Cat is an ode to this much-loved ship's cat, which will warm the heart of any cat lover. (back cover)