19th-Century Australian Travel Writing
Josiah Hughes' (1829-1893) Australia Revisited in 1890 was a narrative description of his travels. Offering the book as from an objective observer and a middle-class tradesman, he prefaced it with the statement that he "felt the want of such a volume coming from an independent source, uninfluenced by party or self interest”. Hughes chronicled his journey from London to Western Australia via Gibraltar, Egypt, and Colombo, landing in King George's Sound. In Australia, Hughes detailed the colonies (including statistical information) of South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, and New Zealand, providing an appendix that contained the "Complete Queensland Handbook for 1891". Written in an engaging, conversational style, the work concluded with a sketch of the author's life.