Alas, for the Pelicans!: Flinders, Baudin and beyond: essays and poems
Condition: SECONDHAND
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In 1802 a Frenchman and an Englishman famously encountered each other off the shores of South Australia. The voyages of discovery of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders opened the way for the increasingly rapid colonisation of 'Terra Australis'. This collection of essays and poems celebrates the two-hundredth anniversary of the encounter, and examines some of the cultural contexts of their voyages and the ramifications of their discoveries over the ensuing years. Flinders himself poignantly noted that the arrival of Europeans in the waters surrounding Kangaroo Island also heralded the passing of what he romantically termed the golden age of the pelicans. 'There are four small islands in the eastern branch [of Nepean Bay]; one of them is moderately high and woody, the others are grassy and lower; and upon two of these we found many young pelicans unable to fly. ... Alas, for the pelicans! Their golden age is past; but it has much exceeded in duration that of man.' - Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis , Vol 1, pp. 183-184)
Author: Anne Chittleborough
Format: Paperback, 221 pages, 165mm x 240mm, 470 g
Published: 2002, Wakefield Press, Australia
Genre: Anthologies, Essays, Letters & Miscellaneous
Description
In 1802 a Frenchman and an Englishman famously encountered each other off the shores of South Australia. The voyages of discovery of Nicolas Baudin and Matthew Flinders opened the way for the increasingly rapid colonisation of 'Terra Australis'. This collection of essays and poems celebrates the two-hundredth anniversary of the encounter, and examines some of the cultural contexts of their voyages and the ramifications of their discoveries over the ensuing years. Flinders himself poignantly noted that the arrival of Europeans in the waters surrounding Kangaroo Island also heralded the passing of what he romantically termed the golden age of the pelicans. 'There are four small islands in the eastern branch [of Nepean Bay]; one of them is moderately high and woody, the others are grassy and lower; and upon two of these we found many young pelicans unable to fly. ... Alas, for the pelicans! Their golden age is past; but it has much exceeded in duration that of man.' - Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis , Vol 1, pp. 183-184)
Alas, for the Pelicans!: Flinders, Baudin and beyond: essays and poems