Morseby John (1 results)

xviii, 327 [32] pp. First edition. Octavo. Bound in original blue cloth. Gilt lettering and illustrations on the spine and cover. Spine sunned. Boards have some shelf wear. Original Victorian red end papers. Previous owner's bookplates on the front end papers. Head and tail edges are trimmed, the fore edge is untrimmed. Edges are dust soiled. There is some staining and foxing inside the volume. Contains four plates and four maps, including a fold out chart. It also includes at the rear of the book an advertising list of the publisher's other works. Moresby published Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea in 1876 after a lifetime spent on the ocean. Joining the navy at age twelve, he served in South America and the Baltic during the Crimean War and worked in Ireland as a marine surveyor. The voyage described in this book was the H.M.S. Basilisk exploration of New Guinea and other South Sea islands. Moresby charted and surveyed New Guinea; his reports also include information on Milne Bay and the China Strait. A supplementary chapter is also included with Morseby's thoughts on colonization. He notes that it is time "to decide on a plan of action with regard to the races that inhabit [these islands]." He notes that as the empire requires the sandalwood, cotton, labour and tobacco the islands produce, it is also obligated to protect the people dwelling there. "They have seen so much of our heathenism that we are bound in fairness to show them something of our Christianity." As an item of provenance, please note that this book came from the library of Lieutenant Commander Andrew David and has his book plate on the front free end paper.