Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

A Run Round the Empire Being the Log of Two Young People who Circumnavigated the Globe is an account of Hill’s children's journey around the British Empire. Their dairies were edited into a novel by their father, Alex Hill (Alexander 1856-1929), M.D. Master of Downing College and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Hill argued in his preface that he had invented a new system of education - to send children around the world to learn geography, history and natural history. Written in a conversational manner, it was intended for a young audience. It covered the Hill children's adventures in Europe, Australia, America, Asia and New Zealand, and detailed matters such as how to entertain oneself while travelling. In Australia the Hill children described the gold fields, Victoria and South Australia, the flora and fauna, Aboriginal populations, and the Australian bush.