Sir Edward Belcher (1799-1877) was a British naval officer who served as surveyor on several long voyages in the Atlantic and Pacific. Published in 1848, this two-volume account, interspersed with charts and illustrations, was the second of his journals to appear in print, and appealed to Victorian readers' enthusiasm for books on exploration, natural history, ethnology and adventure. In Volume 2, Belcher recounts dramatic episodes on his return journey to England from Japan via Hong Kong and Mauritius. This volume incorporates an engaging, and sometimes alarming, commentary on flora and fauna provided by the ship's surgeon, Arthur Adams, in which readers are introduced to spectacular species of spiders, fish and snakes, as well as sensational descriptions of shrunken heads. It also includes a 30-page vocabulary chart, introduced by Ernest Adams, listing English words and their equivalents in Spanish and ten Asian languages.
- ISBN13 9780511996658
- Publish Date 5 March 2012 (first published 30 June 2011)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Cambridge University Press
- Imprint Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing)
- Format eBook
- Language English