Great Southern Landings: An Anthology of Antipodean Travel Tapa dura - 1995

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Thousands of travellers from the northern hemisphere - from Francois Pelsaert, commander of the ill-fated Batavia, to Eric Newby and Jan Morris - have left records of their impressions of the Antipodes. The term 'antipodes' was originally used to refer to 'places on the surface of the earth directly opposite to each other', and later came to mean Australia. Some voyagers - Jonathan Swift, Samuel Butler, Jules Verne, for instance - travelled only in their minds, writing about imaginary voyages to the Antipodes. Murray Bail has observed that the island of Lilliput in Gulliver's Travels is 'perilously close to Adelaide'. Even after European settlement the Antipodes remained partly an imaginary place, calling to mind, in Charles Darwin's words, 'old recollections of childish doubt and wonder'. Jan Bassett has selected ninety extracts from the writings of notable visitors to and imaginers of the Antipodes. These date from about 1605 to the 1990s. Ranging from the illuminating to the hilarious, the writings in this eclectic anthology have reflected and helped to shape Australian and New Zealand cultural identities. They make fascinating reading at a time when both countries are attempting to stand on their own feet and redefine themselves.