AustLit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

James Coutts (1846-1879), M. A. Barrister-at-Law, originally had Vacation Tours in New Zealand and Tasmania published posthumously in the Town and Country Journal in 1880. The work described in detail four tours: the first from Sydney to New Zealand, the second through Tasmania, the third in Victoria, and the last to the Tasmanian lakes. Written in a descriptive yet sensational style, Coutts made analogies including Tasmania being "the Switzerland of the South ... a health resort" (46). Coutts describes Hobart Town, Mount Wellington, Launceston, the flora and fauna, salmon fishing, and various holiday amusements, before embarking for Melbourne. In Victoria, Coutts gives his opinions of Melbourne. His excursion to the Lakes includes detailed descriptions of the landscape and countryside, and his journey through the bush.