19th-Century Australian Travel Writing
Sir Richard Tangye (1833-1906), machine tool manufacturer and engineer, opened firms across the empire following the success of his company's hydraulic lifting jacks that launched the Great Eastern steamship. Tangye travelled several times to Australia for business, and Reminiscences of Travel was written during one of his voyages. Tangye stated that he never found sea faring monotonous because he always found something to occupy himself with, such as composing his travel narrative. Illustrated by E. C. Mountfort, the work was written in an engaging conversational style, and through this narrative Tangye chronicled his experiences in Australia, the Pacific, North America and Egypt. In Australia, Tangye travelled to Victoria, Tasmania, and New South Wales, describing the bush, snakes, city life in the colonies, politics and the climate. The work was published in a second edition in 1884, with the addition of a number of illustrations. Tangye later published Notes of My Fourth Voyage (1886) and an autobiography, One and All in 1890.
