Milingimbi

Ten Years in the Crocodile Islands of Arnhem Land

by Ann E. Wells

Angus and Robertson, 1963, [First Edition], black and white photographic plates, illustrated endpapers (maps), black and white photographic frontispiece, hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners inscription on front endpaper and side fore edge, dustjacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing, bumping, chipping and small tears (see photographs)

“This is the story of ten happy, through far from easy, years on an island off the coast of Arnhem Land.  The experiences of the author and her husband, who was Superintendent of the mission station at Milingimbi, as they tried to help the aboriginal people through the difficult passage between the Stone Age and the modern world, make a narrative rich in interest and enjoyment.  Many of their friends, both Christian and pagan, are remarkable characters, and they are brought vividly to life in these pages as they go about their daily activities – hunting, food-gathering, trading, bark-painting, as well as the new pursuits, such as agriculture, that they are now learning.  There are crises brought on by cyclones fight, wife trouble, and sickness – as a nurse Mrs Wells was always involved in the last, and it was in nursing the sick that she really came close to the aborigines.  Her husband, too, had more than one man’s share of varied experiences, for he was always ready, with boundless enthusiasm, to try anything from adobe building to crocodile-hunting if it would help the people in his charge.”