Marsden Hordern

John Lort Stokes was a British naval officer who served on all three voyages of HMS Beagle, the most famous second Voyage of the Beagle carrying Charles Darwin around the world. One of the Royal Navy's most important tasks in the 19th century was the hydrographic survey and mapping of every corner of the globe, and this is a well written account of the Beagles third voyage. The author Marsden C. Hordern served on small boats on independent operations in northern Australia and the islands to the north during the second world war, and his memoir of that service A Merciful Journey is also worth a read.

Copy purchased secondhand by the Reviewer from Grant's Bookshop.… (more)

Absolutely absorbing if slow-moving account of six years of exploration of the Australian coast by HMS Beagle. John Lort Stokes was a lieutenant and then commander of the Beagle as she explored Australia's north-west coast, Bass Strait, the Gulf of Carpentaria and what is now the Northern Territory, and the author records his minute observations of the seas, the land they discover, the flora and fauna, and most interestingly, first contact with Aboriginal tribes, sometimes hostile, sometimes curious and friendly, Stokes himself surviving being speared in one terrifying encounter. Although Stokes in notably sympathetic to the Aborigines, he reflects the inbuilt racism of the time as he frequently compares the "savage" culture to the almighty power of British civilization, and some of these passages are quite hard to read with a modern sensibility. Nevertheless, Stokes is an engaging character, and his personality emerges from his observations. For variation, the author also throws in observations from other crew members, including Captain Wickham and an irrepressible young lieutenant. This is will be a fascinating book for anyone interested in exploration or the sea, what it lacks in excitement, it makes up for in incredibly absorbing minutiae of exploration in the age of sail. Highly recommended.… (more)