Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

Scotsman John Dunmore Lang (1799-1878) was a politician, clergyman, educationalist, immigration organiser, journalist and prolific author. At the time of this publication, Lang was a Senior Minister of the Scots Church Sydney, Representative of the City of Sydney in the Parliament of New South Wales, honorary member of the African Institute of France, of the American Oriental Society, and of the Literary Institute of Olinda. In this brief pamphlet, Trip to the Westward and Southward, in the Colony of New South Wales, originally published in the Sydney Empire, Lang detailed his month-long preaching and lecturing tour, with proceeds being donated to the tower and spire of the Scots' Church, Sydney. Written in a diary format, Lang described, in a practical way (with emphasis on religion), the towns and churches encountered on his trip. Lang also described the discovery of gold in New South Wales. Lang also wrote Phillipsland; or the Country Hitherto Designated Port Phillip: Its Present Condition and Prospects, A Highly Eligible Field for Emigration (1847); The Australian Emigrant's Manual; or, A Guide to the Gold Colonies of New South Wales and Port Phillip (1852); Queensland, Australia: A Highly Eligible Field for Emigration, and the Future Cottonfield of Britain: With a Disquisition on the Origin, Manners, Customs of the Aborigines (1861).