Media: EBOOK - download
File format: PDF file 14MB 341 pages)
Author: N. Bartley
Year: (1892) 2025
ISBN: 9781742227238
Publisher: Archive Digital Books Australasia

Published in 1892 at Brisbane, Nehemiah Bartley's 'Opals and Agates' records memories of fifty years of Australia and Polynesia.

'At the suggestion of friends, I have herein collated, for publication, some rambling recollections, drawn from a diary that was first started in 1846. I hold that, neither the era of Dampier (circa 1690), nor of Cook (in 1770), nor of Macquarie (in 1820), bears so deep an interest for posterity as those fateful, stirring years, during which, thanks to her gold, Australia rose, from being a mere convicts' wilderness, to become one of the most advanced and interesting countries in the world'.

The book touches on life in Baghdad, Tahiti, Eimeo, Raiatea, Samoa, Caroline Island, Honolulu, Norfolk Island, and the eastern Australian states. Bartley describes a diverse range of topics including the birth of Queensland, a cattle trip to Cape York, an early journey to the Burnett and Darling Downs, Australian shells and butterflies, Australian folklore, international cricket, the Melbourne Cup, Krakatoa earthquake (1883) and mosquito baiting. A fascinating insight into life in the second half of the 1800s.

He also mentions many of the early settlers – the Adsetts, Joshua P Bell, Wm Anthony Brown, Thomas Binney, Noah Beal, Pollet Cardew, John Croft, Delpard family, Sylvester Diggles, Sir Wm Denison, A C Gregory, Ralph Gore, Norman Leith Hay, Joshua Jeays, Job Pratten and many, many more.

High quality scanned images of the whole of the original book, bookmarked for easy navigation. Pages can be searched, browsed, enlarged and printed out if required.

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