Cirrus@Austlit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

In his travel narrative Six Months in South Australia, Thomas Horton James (ca. 1792-1867) described his experience in the colony of South Australia, with accompanying advice to intending emigrants; the work was written in the years immediately following the establishment of the Colony. James prefaces the work by stating that its aim was to provide a short and familiar account of the place, and rather than indulging in florid descriptions he preferred a few dry and simple details of fact: "instead of bragging about the climate, he has referred to the thermometer." James provided information on the benefits of employment and support in the colony, noting however that the emigrant would inevitably meet with unavoidable difficulties. He detailed in a narrative fashion the productions of the colony, and descriptions of Adelaide and the country, including maps. James also published in The Australian between 1826 and 1827 under the pseudonym X.Y.Z.