AustLit

19th-Century Australian Travel Writing

George Hamilton, writer, poet, and member of the Acclimatization Society, wrote Experiences of a Colonist Forty Years Ago, published under the name “an Old Hand,” from the point of view of a colonist recalling events from his early experiences. The preface states that Hamilton's aim for the text was to "enlighten and amuse his readers, while at the same time [giving] them a true and detailed description of events as they occurred nearly half a century ago." The work is divided into three connected narratives, the first the titular tale, the second chronicling a journey from Port Phillip to South Australia in 1839, and the third detailing a voyage from Port Phillip to Adelaide in 1846. The work is written in a humorous, anecdotal style, with particular emphasis on the daily experience of colonial and travelling life: the food, weather, conditions of the roads, early colonial society, and features of the landscape.