Series:

Cambridge Library Collection - History of Oceania

1 total work

Cover of A Voyage Round the World, in the Years 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803, and 1804
This nineteenth-century travelogue documents John Turnbull's five-year journey around the world. Turnbull (fl. 1799-1813), a sailor in the merchant service, set out from Portsmouth in 1800 with the original purpose of pursuing trade in north-west Asia. In his ship, the Margaret, he sailed via Madeira and around the Cape of Good Hope. Setting aside his trading plans, he went on to explore Pacific territories, including Australia, Norfolk Island and the Society Islands. This book records his observations throughout, and also includes an appendix featuring Turnbull's account of his time in New Zealand. His notes from the voyage were first published in 1805, and an abridged version appeared a year later. This expanded edition was published in 1813. Popular at the time due to growing public interest in the Antipodes, A Voyage Round the World is a fascinating memoir of ship life and English exploration of the Pacific in the early nineteenth century.