AustLit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

Charles Medyett Goodridge survived the shipwreck of the cutter, The Princess of Wales, which was shipwrecked en route to the Crozet archipelago, a sub-Antarctic group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean in 1821. The crew spent two years on the islands before their rescue. Narrative of a Voyage to the South Seas is Goodridge’s account and is written as an account of his experience at sea following the shipwreck. First published in 1832, this narrative of adventure was republished numerous times, with the preface to the first edition stating that the work was derived from a plain, unvarnished tale and was not offered as a work of literary refinement, or intended to frighten the timid or to amuse the thoughtless. Rather, the work was presented as "a narrative of facts." Goodridge later travelled to Hobart Town, meeting Ikey Solomon whilst in Van Diemen's Land. He described the people he met in Hobart, as well as providing portrayals of Aboriginal peoples. Despite the adventurous nature of Goodridge’s journey, it is brief in its description.