The Voyage Of H.M.S. Herald

This is the authoritative account of one of the longest and most important surveying cruises of the golden age of world hydrography. This voyage of HMS Herald, under the command of Henry Mangles Denham, encompassed much of the South-west Pacific and substantial parts of the Australian coast. From 1852 to 1861, the Herald surveyed and charted known land masses and suspected hazards, thereby establishing safe routes for shipping. That some of these charts are still in use is testimony to the accuracy and skill of those who created them. Commander David makes extensive use of the journals of Denham and his officers to describe mid-nineteenth-century techniques of surveying and charting, often undertaken in hazardous conditions. His book also provides an unusual and often entertaining view of the difficulties experienced in field work. The collection of natural history specimens, another part of the Herald's task, resulted in significant additions to British collections. Botanical and ornithological discoveries are described using current nomenclature, and the habits of some species now threatened or extinct are examined through the journals of the Ship's scientists. The South-west Pacific at the time of Denham's voyages was simulataneously a mission field, a site of commercial activity, and a colonial outpost. The accounts of the Herald's contact with native peoples are enriched by detailed descriptions of cultural practices, and give an insight into the complex and often uneasy relationships between colonial officials, missionaries and natives. Almost a decade's voyaging brought the ship and her crew to remote and inhospitable locations, threatened them with storms, disease, hunger and illness, and separated them from home and families. It also earned for them a lasting place in the history of maritime surveying.

About the Author :
Andrew David joined the Royal Navy in 1943, and during a career of more than forty years served in Western Australia, the Persian Gulf, Africa, the Mediterranean, the West Indies and around the British Isles. In 1961 he commanded HMS Medusa, conducting surveys of the west coast of England and Wales. From 1961 to 1985 he worked in the Hydrographic Office of the Ministry of Defence, where he took a particular interest in its collection of manuscripts relating to voyages of discover in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For several years after his retirement in 1985 he continued to write Admiralty sailing directions for the Hydrographic Office. Lieutenant Commander David has given papers on cartography and voyages of discovery at international conferences in many parts of the world. He has served on the councils of the Hakluyt Society and the Society for Nautical Research and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society. He is the chief editor of The Charts and Coastal Views of Captain Cook's Voyages, published by the Hakluyt Society.