Cirrus@Austlit

Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing

Robert Young's (1796-1865) overtly religious The Southern World chronicled the journey of Wesleyan missionaries to Polynesia and Australia, including New Zealand. A Wesleyan minister and missionary himself, Young presented his travels in journal form, divding it into daily entries that were written in the first person. It focused on the customs of Indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, "the Friendly Isles," Tonga, and "Feejee," which were then contrasted with examples of "native Christians," as well as more general information about the places visited and missionary activities. The Southern World was reprinted in 1855 (London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.), but with no changes to the text.