JULY, 1845. PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION, BY T. AND W. BOONE, 29, NEW BOND STREET. By Permission OF THE LORDS COMMISSIONERS OF THE ADMIRALTY. NEW LANDS IN AUSTRALIA; DISCOVERIES OF THE VICTORIA, ADELAIDE, ALBERT, AND FITZROY RIVERS, AND EXPEDITIONS INTO THE INTERIOR; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE HITHERTO UNKNOWN COASTS SURVEYED DURING THE VOYAGE OF H. M. S. BEAGLE, BETWEEN THE YEARS 1837 AND 1843: ALSO, A NARRATIVE OF THE VISITS OF H.M.S. BRITOMART, COMMANDER OWEN STANLEY, R.N., F.R.S. TO THE ISLANDS IN THE ARAFŪRA SEA. BY J. LORT STOKES, COMMANDEr, r.n. With Maps, Charts, and numerous Illustrations, 2 vols. 8vo. THE Beagle sailed from England early in the year 1837, and returned towards the close of 1843. During that period, besides the ordinary incidents of naval adventure, many circumstances of interest marked the progress of her voyage. Unknown shores and untraversed plains upon the north and north-west coasts of Australia have been added to our geographical knowledge. An inroad into the interior, reaching within 500 miles of the very centre of the great Australian Continent, has been accomplished. The rivers Victoria, Adelaide, Albert, and Fitzroy, have been discovered. Great additions have been made to the several departments of Natural History, of which the various specimens will be classified and described by eminent Naturalists. The north-west coast of Australia has been carefully surveyed; and Bass Strait, heretofore so justly dreaded by the Masters of ships, may now be navigated with that safety which ought to distinguish the high road between England and Sydney. The charts of the passage through Torres Strait, by the inner route, have been improved, and a safe channel discovered through Endeavour Strait: while anchoragesespecially at Western and Southern Australia-now correctly laid down, and doubtful positions finally assigned, prove that in the unpretending though important duties of surveying, the officers of the Expedition failed not to do justice to the cause wherein they were engaged. Notices of Tenerife, San Salvador, the Brazils, the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, its Hurricanes, and the numerous Islands, Waters, and Lands of Australia, now first discovered and described, will be found in the earlier portions of the work, and an account of the interesting visits of H.M.S. Britomart, to the islands in the Arafūra Sea, prepared by Captain Owen Stanley, in the latter part. In an age fertile beyond all precedent in contributions to the stores of geographical knowledge, it seems desirable that some authentic account should be prepared to record the details of a Voyage of Discovery and Survey, performed under the protection of the flag of Great Britain. For a period of nearly three hundred years England has been preeminent for the grandeur and success of her naval discoveries; and a long line of illustrious examples, in which the names of Cabot, Drake, Raleigh, Dampier, Anson, Cook, Byron, Vancouver, Flinders, Parry, Franklin, and others, are to be found, attest that in each succeeding generation there have arisen men, willing, at all hazards, to sustain the reputation of that noble service from which they derived, and to which they bequeathed, and owe their glory! And though the present cannot emulate the great achievements of the past-though the adventurous wanderer may no longer hope to give his name to a new continent, or pass through unknown seas, from shore to shore-though not for him are reserved the striking triumphs of an earlier time-there are still rich prizes within his reach to tempt him onward! In the voyage which this work is intended to describe, much new and valuable information has been collected, new coasts have been visited-new scenes described-new countries explored. Fruitful in incident, it abounds in materials for thought. Amid the wilds of Australia the advancing footsteps of Christian civilization have marked the outlines of that wider and more beaten road, by which their further progress, and final triumph will be effected; while in the lonely solitudes, which the occasional visit of the roving savage serves but to make more desolate,—the first echoes of our language,-the first offerings of our faith,-have attested that the dawn is at hand-that the day is coming which shall give another, and an English empire, to the annals of the world! Each circumstance of that eventful history ought, as it transpires, to be recorded, and an account will be here attempted of that Expedition which penetrated so far towards the interior of this great Continent, discovering some of the largest rivers yet known to water its far-spread forests and extensive plains; in the belief that the intrinsic importance of the subject will more than atone for any want of experience in the art of narration. Sold by OLIVER & BOYD, Edinburgh; and J. CUMMING, Dublin. LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIAN TRAVELS 29, NEW BOND STREET. & C. In 2 vols. 8vo. with Maps and numerous Plates, JOURNALS OF EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY CENTRAL INTO AUSTRALIA, AND OVERLAND FROM ADELAIDE TO KING GEORGE'S SOUND IN THE YEARS 1840-1; Sent by the Colonists of South Australia, WITH THE SANCTION AND SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT: INCLUDING An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines, and the state of their relations with Europeans. BY EDWARD JOHN EYRE, RESIDENT MAGISTRATE, MURRAY RIVER, NOW LIEUT.-GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND. *** The Founder's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society was awarded to Mr. Eyre for the discovery of Lake Torrens, and explorations of far greater extent in Australia than any other traveller, a large portion never having been previously traversed by civilized man. "His narrative of what he did and overcame, is more like the stirring stories of Park and Bruce than the tame and bookish diffuseness of modern travellers. Nothing short of a perusal of the volumes can enable our readers to appreciate this book."-Spectator. "We might easily extract much more from Mr. Eyre's volumes of interest to the reader, but our limits circumscribe us. We therefore bid farewell to them, with the recommendation to the public, not to overlook a work which, though it records the failure of a great enterprize, is yet full of matter, which proclaims it of value." Atlas. "Mr. Eyre writes with the plain unaffected earnestness of the best of the old travellers."-Examiner. "An intensely interesting book."-Tablet. "We must now close these interesting volumes, not, however, without expressing our high approval both of the matter they contain, and of the manner of their compilation. We rise from the perusal of them with a feeling similar to that which follows the enjoyment of a pleasant work of fiction."-Critic. 2 Published by T. & W. BOONE, 29, New Bond Street. JOURNALS OF EXPEDITIONS OF DISCOVERY IN NORTH-WEST AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA, DURING THE YEARS 1837, 1838, AND 1839, Under the Authority of her Majesty's Government. With Observations on the Agricultural and Commercial Capabilities and Prospects of several newly-explored fertile Regions, including AUSTRALIND, and on the Moral and Physical Condition of the Aboriginal Inhabitants, &c. &c. BY GEORGE GREY, ESQ., LATE CAPTAIN 83RD REGT. FORMERLY GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, NOW GOVERNOR OF NEW ZEALAND. With Two large Maps by J. Arrowsmith, and numerous Illustrations, some coloured, in 2 vols. 8vo. "It is not with the slightest hope of satisfying curiosity, or to anticipate the interest which the public in general, and geographers especially, always feel in enterprises of this nature, but merely to give such a sketch of the principal features of the expedition as may serve to direct those who are desirous of obtaining information respecting a portion of this remarkable country-hitherto only visited by Tasman, Dampier, Baudin, and King, and never before, we believe, penetrated by an European-to look forward to the detailed journals of the spirited officers who had the conduct of the expedition." From Geographical Transactions. A great portion of the country described in this Journal has never before been visited by any European. The Eastern coast of Short's Bay was for the first time seen and explored during the progress of these expeditions. "We have rarely seen a more interesting book; it is full of splendid description and startling personal adventure; written in a plain, manly, unaffected style."-Examiner. "It is impossible to have perused these highly interesting and important volumes without being inspired with feelings of warm admiration for the indomitable perseverance and heroical self-devotion of their gallant and enterprising author. Setting aside the vastly important results of Captain Grey's several expeditions, it is hardly possible to conceive narratives of more stirring interest than those of which his volumes are for the most part composed."— United Service Gazette. "We have not read such a work of Travels for many years; it unites the interest of a romance with the permanent qualities of an historical and scientific treatise.”—Atlas. "We recommend our readers to the volumes of Captain Grey, assuring them they will derive both amusement and instruction from the perusal.”—Times. "This is a work deserving high praise. As a book of Travels it is one of the most interesting we remember to have met with."-Westminster Review. "A book which should be in every lending library and book-club." Englishman's Magazine. "The contents of these interesting volumes will richly repay an attentive perusal." Emigration Gazette. "These narratives are replete with interest, and blend information and amusement in a very happy manner."-Australian Magazine. Published by T. & W. BOONE, 29, New Bond Street. Just published, in 1 vol. 8vo. with Plates and Woodcuts, JOURNAL 3 N.B. A large 3 sheet Map of the Route by J. Arrowsmith is published, and to be had separately in a Case, price 9s. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. "A work of unquestionable merit and utility, and its author's name will justly stand high upon the honourable list of able and enterprising men, whose courage, perseverance, and literary abilities have contributed so largely to our knowledge of the geography and productions of our distant southern colonies."-Blackwood's Mag. "For the courage with which this lengthened and perilous journey was undertaken, the skill with which it was directed, and the perseverance with which it was performed, it is almost unrivalled in the annals of exploring enterprise. It richly deserves attention."-Britannia. "The narrative in which he relates the results of this remarkable journey, and the extraordinary fatigues and privations endured by himself and his fellow travellers, is not merely valuable for its facts, but full of absorbing interest as a journal of perilous adventures."-Atlas. "The volume before us comprises the narrative of one of the most remarkable enterprises ever planned by man's sagacity and executed by man's courage and endurance. To our minds there is in every point of view an inexpressible charm in such a book as this. It not merely narrates to us the opening of a new material world for human enterprise and scientific investigation, but it makes more clearly known to us the wondrous powers aud capacities of human nature. We recommend it to our readers as a work scarcely less remarkable for the extraordinary enterprise recorded in it, than for the simplicity and modesty with which it is related."-Morning Herald. "The result of his enterprise was thoroughly successful. It has added not a little to our existing stock of knowledge in the various departments of natural history, and has made discovery in districts before untrodden, of an almost boundless extent of fertile country."-Examiner. "The most striking feature in the expedition is its successful accomplishment, which is of itself sufficient to place Dr. L. in the first rank of travellers. How much Dr. L. has added to geographical discovery can only be felt by an examination of the admirable maps which accompany the volume. These have been deduced on a large scale from the traveller's sketches by Mr. Arrowsmith, and engraved with a distinctness of execution, and a brief fulness of descriptive remark which leave nothing to be desired." Spectator. |