Polynesia in 1792
p. 101 · Read in the full issue
In 1792, a boatswain named William House was on the store ship “Nautilus”, which sailed from Nootka Sound (Vancouver} to Port Jackson (Sydney), via Marquesas and Society Islands.
His was among the first Euro pean ships to make contact with the Polynesians of those parts, and his comments on their bear ing and behaviour are interest ing.
The comments were written on a few sheets of ancient paper and, somehow, the document came into possession of the Mitchell Library, Sydney.
That well known booklover and historian, Mr. John Earnshaw, has taken the frag ment, built it up with a series of valuable annotations, and published it as a neat little volume, “A Letter from the South Seas, 1792”, by a Voyager on the Daedalus. An edition limited to 250 copies has been printed for private circulation, and a few copies are available for purchase for 21/-, from Mr.
W. Stone, 64 Young Street, Cremorne, Sydney.