Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing
Eneas MacKenzie (1808-1865) was an English writer and topographer. MacKenzie wrote an emigrant guide to the Australian colonies, which consisted of practical information. In his preface, he explained that many intending emigrants rush their journey to Australia, resulting in what should be an easy voyage becoming one of "danger, disease, and death". His emigrant guide was presented as a corrective to this. It detailed how to prepare for the voyage, what clothes and equipment to bring, and offered advice for emigrants intending to go to the gold regions. MacKenzie's work was prefaced by Mrs. Chisholm's memoir, which stated that in Britain, emigration raged as a national epidemic; Chisholm's advice was referred to extensively throughout the text. This work was also published in abbreviated pamphlet form (speculated date of publication 1852) by Mackenzie, without the memoir of Mrs. Chisholm (although the work is dedicated to her) under the title Mackenzie's Australian Emigrant Guide: Giving Faithful and Important Advice on the Choice of a Ship, Outfit, Preservation of Health During the Voyage. MacKenzie wrote a number of books, including A Descriptive and Historical Account of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1827); An Historical, Topographical and Descriptive View of the County of Palatine of Durham (1834).
