Reflections of the Colony of New South Wales

by George Caley

edited by J. E. B. Currey

Angus and Robertson, 1967, [First Edition], illustrated endpapers, hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners inscriptions and name stamp on front endpaper and title page, dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing, bumping, chipping, creasing and tears, closed tears to front and back (see photographs)

“George Caley was one of the early English botanists sent to the colony of New South Wales by the great naturalist Sir Joseph Banks.  For ten years he made his home in Parramatta, travelling extensively, exploring unknown country, and collecting hundreds of specimens.
From the time of his arrival in 1800 he sent detailed and lengthy letters to Banks, ranging from descriptions of new specimens, and vivid accounts of explorations, to reports on life in the colony under Governor King, and then Bligh.  In this book, John Currey has edited these letters, incorporating them into a narrative text to present a unique picture of ten eventful years in the struggling colony.
Not only did Caley deal at length with the price of commodities, the state of convicts, the prospects of the settlers, the trade monopoly and the deposition and imprisonment of Bligh, but he was also concerned with health, education and the law; the method of farming, the construction of houses, the milling of wheat and the treatment of the Aborigines.  He related anecdotes of leading figures of the time and told of his personal experiences and quarrels with them.”