MUDFLAT PICKINGS

Birds in early morning search for food, Cairns. Not clear if recent  wildlife report about the influence of light pollution on birds means many experience longer days out and about and applies to them in the bright lights of Queensland  tourist spots.

 (Cairns. Birdlife. Abra.)

RARE PALM TREE ART OFFER

An extraordinarily beautiful and lavish Australian artists book devoted to the palm tree, inspired by the Palmetum of Townsville, one of the three botanical gardens of the city and the most significant garden in the world dedicated to the palm tree, with numerous rare and endangered species,is listed for sale at $15,000 in the wide ranging  August acquisitions of Douglas Stewart Fine books , Melbourne . 

The palm was" depicted  by" a team-Juli Haas, Ray Crooke, Jan Senbergs, Anneke Silver, Cheryl Wildon, Danny Moynihan, Margaret Wilson, Normana Wight, Jorg Schmeisser, David Paulson, Ron McBurnie, Tate Adams, Anne Lord. 

With text by Jenny Zimmer. Introduction by John L. Dowe, Palm Biologist, James Cook University. Townsville : Lyrebird Press, 2002. Folio (470 x 395 mm), screen printed papered boards, cloth spine, pp. [52], with original etchings, silk screens, dry points, linocuts and wood engravings by the artists, printed on BFK rag paper, housed in the publisher’s folding clamshell box with screenprint designs of palms. 

Printed in an edition of 40 copies of which copies 26 to 40 are reserved for the artists and collaborators. Signed by all thirteen artists. This is copy number 26, with a presentation inscription on the front free endpaper For Jenny from Tate, Dec 2002.

"Of all of the books we made at Lyre Bird Press in Townsville, Palmetum was the most ambitious and challenging. It was ambitious in that we brought acclaimed artists from different parts of the country to Townsville with the hope that they could share their unique vision of the Palmetum (a botanic garden specifically devoted to palms of the world) to print form. The book was costly because of its large size and the expense of editioning the plates."

Designed by Tate Adams, produced with Ron McBurnie at the workshop of the Lyre Bird Press at James Cook University, Townsville. Text printed from relief plates, typography by Charles Teuma. Bound in Brisbane by Friedhelm Pohlmann. The project was started in 1995 and finished and published in 2002.

The Douglas Stewart list consists of more than 250 books, book catalogues , photos and  Australian artists , many from  the eminent  curator  and art historian , Felicity St. John Moore(1933-2025) . It includes  early Australian  women artists  , Aboriginal art  and  much  much  more. 

(Rare. Art. Books.) 

RECORD CAR MARATHON

A century ago, two tall,  adventurous men  set out from Perth , Western Australia, in a  a tiny 5hp ,second- hand   Citroen  , named  Bubsie, bound   for  far away Darwin on  what  developed  into  the  first   Australia  circumnavigation  drive . They  were  Seventh Day  Adventist missionary ,  Nevill  Westwood,22, and a  friend ,  Greg Davies. 

Packed into the car  with  swags ,extra fuel  tanks, water and oil, spare tyres  was  religious  literature for  sale  to  stations  in WA  and the   Northern Territory . It  was an epic  bush  bashing   trip in which Aborigines  actually  helped  carry  Bubsie across  the  Fitzroy River. 

 

Westwood  had  blazed  the  run  to  Darwin in 1924 on  an  AJS motorcycle.

In 1908 Murray Aunger and Harry Dutton  drove  a Talbot between Adelaide and  Darwin.

Once Bubsie  made  Darwin  they  continued on into  Queensland , passing the burnt wreckage of a car abandoned by adventurer Francis  Birtles on an earlier  trip  to  the Northern Territory. 

Driving through to  Mount Isa   they experienced formed roads to  Brisbane and Sydney.  Davies left the car at  Albury  and went back to Perth so that he could  resume  his  study  as a  nurse. 

At that time  the above  vehicle , fitted out for a long outback trip, was attracting  attention .

Westwood continued on through  Melbourne and  Adelaide , arriving back in Perth on  December  30,  l925  and  resumed  church  business. 

The Citroen ended up in the National Motor Museum , Birdwood, South Australial, and  a   restored similar vehicle re-enacted the  circumnavigation this  year -mostly on  the  back  of  a  truck .  

(Circumnavigation. Australia. Darwin.)

WATERFRONT PANORAMA

Cairns Esplanade. Abra  photos. 

Cairns. Abra photo.

LAUGH IN WITH PETER BURLEIGH

 Talented  artist and author  Peter Burleigh  is  shown above  on Magnetic Island coming  up  for oxygen  after  reflecting   on  his  fabulous contributions  to the  wild , short-lived    l969   Australian   national   magazine , Broadside,  a   bound  in  copy  from  the  Little Darwin collection    before  him .

Edited by Pete Steedman ,who had edited two Melbourne university student newspapers, Lot's Wife and Farrago, Broadside, said to have been produced in  an office the size of a broom cupboard, opposed  the  Vietnam War and  was   published  by  the  Melbourne  Age.

The very first issue introduced Fabula  - the newest, wildest , most offbeat comic strip yet- by Gerald Carr,  about the adventures  of  a    curvey  , whip- cracking  private secretary to the   Prime  Minister  in  a  great Southland continent  , wink , wink,nudge, nudge . 

Seemed   to  be  Australia , Canberra in particular, although   Fabula   threatened  the  American  president  with a   whipping.  Come back Fabula  , you  are  needed  in  the   White House right  now . 

From Steeedman's  personal   file   came another   version of  Fabula, below, inspired by  Barbarella  in  Jean Claude Forest's  French  comics , Jane Fonda playing  her  in a  film  version,  which  upset  the  Catholic  Church.

Peter  Burleigh's contributions  to Broadside  were many, some full page, covered a  wide range of topics    from Scientology  to  politics,  Disney characters , censorship   and   an hilarious  send up  of warnings about the  danger of  fluoride in drinking water 

The latter featured a  before and  after   series  of  a  muscular bloke   wth rotten  teeth, apparently popular with women , who killed   cattle  at the abbatoirs by smiling at them. After  fluoride  applications,  he becomes a  weedy guy,  knee deep in toothpaste, with   dazzling white teeth, who could kiss  anything  at  the  meatworks.   

It is  not known if the  fluoride user inspired  graffiti  in which  Basil Sweetlips  is mentioned. 

An example of Burleigh's highly detailed work , below, showed a man asleep in the Darwin Early Warning Station during an invasion.

                                                        

      

Another cartoon , below, covered Burleigh's departure   for  England , with a letter of introduction  from the Victorian  hanging Premier, Sir Henry Bolte . Burleigh   was  intent on telling  the Poms the  truth about  Oz  , with a  special  gift  pack for Prince  Charles.  

Broadside   also  ran   cartoons from two  well known  Americans , Jules Ralph  Feiffer, described as the  widest  read satirist in the country , and   ascerbic  Ron Cobb .

   

Australia's own Michael Leunig provided several brilliant double page spreads .There were regular columns from both sides of politics .

The last  issue of  Broadside, signed  by  Pete Steedman,  is run below. It seems some   of the political content  and a  drawing-not one of Burleigh's- upset the publishers   and  some members of the Melbourne  Club, and it got the chop.  Steedman headed to London and met up with Burleigh .one of their misadventures an overland trip to Morocco , mentiond recently in  this blog. 

(Broadside. Burleigh. Cartoonists.)

UNIQUE TROVE AT JAMES COOK UNIVERSITY

Australian  Art  Researcher's  Eclectic  Collection, rerun.

The late Margaret Vine , of Magnetic  Island , shown in a magazine article  chatting with Australian artist  Sir Russell Drysdale , at a  Brisbane   exhibition , passed   on  to   Special Collections   at  James Cook University , Townsville , part of   her   extensive   art  library. Her interests  included  architecture , clothing ,  jewellery ,  pottery , Persian carpets ,   editing ,  wildlife , conservation .

By Peter Simon

Her  donation to  the university   included   three   boxes   of  unique  art  ephemera  containing  art catalogues of Australian  art  galleries , invitations   to exhibitions , newsletters , single  sheet  illustrations .   Come along  for a  quick, offbeat   tour  of  the  fascinating  contents. 

An exhibition  catalogue  which particularly  grabbed my attention was  one  by Marie McMahon, inspired by the birds  and vegetation in the region of the  Rum Jungle uranium  mine in the Northern Territory . 

It was  shown at  the  Australian  Girls Own Gallery , Canberra , in  l994.  The gallery , known as  aGOG , was owned and operated  by former National Gallery of Australia curator  Helen Maxwell  to combat  bias against women  artists ; at times it handled work of  male artists .   

It tells how Prime Minister Robert Menzies  in opening the  uranium mine  in 1954   said it brought  Australia into the "Atomic Age".  Upon its closure  it left  30 kilometres of  the  East Finniss River  dead ,  pollutants  said to be discharged for  300  years. McMahon's   early life  was on  defence  bases in Australia , including  Darwin ,with time in the Philippines.  Her artwork involved social, political  and environmental themes. She   lived  at   Batchelor , the  town constructed  to  serve   Rum   Jungle.  Conflict in Indochina and  Cambodia  reflected  in   later  works . 

Flip open  a card and  there is a dramatic  invite to an exhibition which  modern  day   farmers, under great economic  pressures ,  drought , massive flooding in  parts ,  would  appreciate . 

It is contained in tree folders specifically covering exhibitions by the legendary art dealer and gallery proprietor Ray Hughes of Brisbane and Sydney with whom she had a close association ,along with other prominent people in the art world . 

 

Ray Hughes , above , enjoying life ; below, an invitation to his gallery in the form of playing card  for an exhibition by Alan Bourne in  l977. Hughes started his  first gallery in  Brisbane in 1969  at the age of  21 ,  with just   $500 , later opened  another gallery in  Sydney , promoted an early interest in Papua New Guinea , New Zealand and contemporary Chinese art ( which included visiting China) ,    died  age  72.     Other  invites of his  took  the shape of specially designed, illustrated   postcards, a  packet of  tobacco  for sculptor , artist and print makere Tony Coleing , renowned for satirical and cutting  edge works.  

 

WOMBATS  AND   POLITICIANS 

There was  a Clifton Pugh  wombat  hanging on the  wall of  Ms. Vine's  island home .  In  the boxes  of  ephemera   at   James  Cook University  is  the following   Melbourne  University  Gallery  catalogue  for   Pugh's portraits  with a stern looking  depiction  of   himself  on  the  cover .

Involved in conservation  issues    from  the l950s,  Pugh  wrote  Death of a  Wombat in 1972  ; aligned himself  with the Australian Labor Party , influenced  the Whitlam Government's support for the arts  and  painted   politicians ,   Gough Whitlam ,Tom Uren , Clyde Cameron , Don Dunstan  , all of the ALP,  and  Country Party   leader , John " Blackjack" McEwen . 

SAD  AND  SAVAGE  DARWIN   LEAVES

Cover  for exhibition  by  Wendy Stavrianos  which compared the vegetation of  Darwin and   New South Wales. The artist said this exhibition was like two

earlier exhibitions she held in  Melbourne and set out to show a side of the Darwin environment  in  which she lived for three years  

This sad and savage land seemed at times to be bleached out  to white fragments ; giant leaves dried of all sap through a long dry season were reduced to wavering wafer like shapes that twisted up and lay forgotten in the wide landscape. 

The dry season seemed like an endless  peeling off of skins that curled and split and fell to the barren earth.

Then the coming of the Wet brought bougeoning growth , a fresh  filling out of luxuriant flesh. and so the cycle repeated itself . Always against the  immense  flat  background of land, sea and beach.  Sydney Harbour Bridge and  Circular  Quay  below. 

FOOTNOTE: Under her married name, Margaret Willis, she  assisted Gordon Greenwood  and Charles Grimshaw in  their  jointly edited  l977 Documents on Australian International Affairs,  1901 -1918, Nelson , 779pp, illustrated , endpaper maps.  She probably assisted in the selection  of  cartoons  and other  artwork  related  to  that  period  which  appear  in  the  book .    

(Vine. Art. University.)

ROCKS BY THE SEASHORE

Magnetic Island .  Vallis photo. 

 

TROPICAL ART DECO FESTIVAL

The  North Queensland  town  of  Innisfail  will next month celebrate a century of art deco style ,  there being much  of  it  in  its  architecure , such as the shire hall  .

The dental clinic.

After  the  l918 cyclone  which devastated  the town, only 12 houses left standing , the  CBD  was  rebuilt  in  the   solid  art  deco fashion , becoming the  art  deco  capital  of   Australia.  Other  art deco buildings scattered about the north. 

After an  earthquake  hit  Napier , New Zealand , on February 3  , 1931, killing  256 and injuring thousands,  it  was   also rebuilt  in  the  strong  art  deco   fashion , becoming  one of  the  world's  finest examples  of  art deco  architecture, attracting  many overseas  tourists, including Americans . 

(Deco. Centenary. Innisfail.)

NOW FOR 2025

l987 movie with Dame Edna Everage, Killer Koala?

 

(Word. Saved. Film.)

ISLAND HOTEL SANATORIUM OPENED 1899

 

Postcard , possibly before 1910, of  the  hotel, from the  Magnetic Museum   collection.

(Magnetic . Hotel.  Advertisement.)

G'DAY! FROM THE NORTH

Alva  Beach , near  Ayr. Mount Inkerman Walking Trail  Lookout  below.

Postcards  from  trailblazer   Sara  in Queensland.  

 (Postcards. North. Sara.)

MESSAGE FROM THE PLUCKY LITTLE DEACONESS OF THE SOUTH SEAS

 A previously unrecorded  piece of correspondence , a real photo postcard,   from Torres Strait missionary and teacher Florence Griffiths Buchanan  ( 1861-1913 ) , sent in 1911 with a Christmas and New Year message  to  a relative back in  England .One of the many interesting items  in  the latest  acquisitions list of   Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Melbourne, it shows  children at  St. Paul's Mission  School on  Moa (Wug),  possibly  taken  by  her  own  camera. 

According to the Dictionary of Australian Biography, Florence was born on  September 16, 1861 at Canterbury, Kent, England, daughter of Captain Neil Griffiths Buchanan of the 93rd Highlanders and his wife Elizabeth Jane, née Griffiths. Orphaned when young, Florence became the ward of a relation at Torquay, Devon.

Despite her extremely delicate constitution and near-blindness, she devoted herself as a young woman to both practical charity and prayer. After a physical breakdown in 1887, she accompanied her two brothers to Bundaberg, Queensland, where they purchased Oakwood, a substantial cane-farm.

Seriously injured in a riding accident in 1888, she was left permanently crippled. After teaching her Melanesian servants English and Bible stories, she later assumed responsibility for the fundamentalist non-denominational South Seas Evangelical Mission (also known as the Queensland Kanaka Mission). In addition she served as Queensland secretary of both the International Scripture Union and the Young Women’s Christian Association, and maintained at her own expense a hostel for English migrant girls.

After Oakwood was destroyed in the 1893 floods, Florence Buchanan lived at Townsville and competently helped Bishop C. G. Barlow to administer his diocese.

Two years later she worked among the multi-racial communities of divers on Thursday Island. Forced to go to London for surgery, on her return she met Kashiwagi Taira, an educated storekeeper who introduced her into the usually closed Japanese community. Though only modestly successful in proselytizing them, she was revered and respected by everybody on the island for her generous hospitality, friendliness, humour and compassion.

In 1906 Miss Buchanan was engaged first as a teacher and later as acting headmistress of the famed Singapore Chinese Girls’ School; she also taught the orphans at St Mary’s Home in Singapore.

In 1907 she again underwent major surgery in London and, upon recovery, returned to Thursday Island and was ordained a deaconess in January 1908. In May she went to Moa Island and conducted the Anglican mission, taught school, and tried to inculcate skills necessary for economic self-sufficiency. Her former work among Melanesians stood her in good stead, for the mission included Pacific islanders deported from Queensland.

Florence Buchanan resigned her charge of the mission in 1911 because of deteriorating health, but she stayed on as a teacher. She was disappointed at missing the dedication in August 1913 of St Paul’s Church, Moa, by her devoted friend Bishop Gilbert White. In September she performed her last public function when she spoke on ‘The mission field as a vocation for women’ at the annual congress of the Church of England in Brisbane. She died of tuberculosis in St Helen’s Methodist Hospital on  December 30 and was  buried in Toowong cemetery. 

Her death was profoundly mourned throughout the Torres Strait. The church on Moa installed a memorial stained-glass window, with her face as the gentle but indomitable St Catherine of Genoa to whom Bishop White likened her.

(Missionary. Buchanan.Kanakas.) 

WARTIME RELIC

Heritage  listed   Charlie's  Hill  Number  211 Radar Station , south of  Home Hill,  in the Burdekin Shire,  Queensland , built  by the RAAF in l943 . It was one of  20 radar installations  along  the  Queensland coast.  Photo by Sara .  

(War. Radar. Queensland.)

GRAND TOUR TOOK IN BUDDHIST WORLD HERITAGE CITY

Found  in  a  North Queensland  cluster of  worn travel guides to various parts of  Asia  was  a  collection of watercolours by Thai artist Samboon  Phoungdorkmai  of   the  former    Laos  capital , Luang  Prabang.

The  text  is by the artist  and  Andre  Lurde  and Susan Atkinson. There are  63 original  watercolours  and  25  duotone sketches. 

Presented  by  Thai  International Airways , it was published in  2004 by Asia Horizons Books , a  project initiated by the Thai  Lao Association  for  Friendship.

(Laos.  Architecture . Art.)

SHIVERING SHAG ON A ROCK

Described as a headless shag ( which it is not) on a rock, this odd photograph was sent to us by correspondent Petros from Redcliffe, Queensland. It also appears to be standing on one foot . The strange profile could be due to the cold weather-even snow- being experienced in the Sunshine State and the freezing bird pulling in its head and raising part of the landing   gear.

(Headless. Cold. Petros.) 

INSPIRING TERRITORY FOR AWARD WINNING NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES

In 1938 Xavier Herbert   received  the  Australian  Commonwealth   sequi-centenary  award  for  a  novel ,  Capricornia , which  was  praised  by the  prominent  British  writer   H. G. Wells . 

The   novel was inspired  to a large  extent by what  Herbert  experienced in and  the many characters  he  met   in  the   Northern Territory  in   the   l920s   and  30s  working  as  a  pharmacist,  railway  fettler,   superintendent of an  Aboriginal  compound  and  "pox  doctor  " to  Japanese  pearldivers  whom  he   regarded  as  supermen . 

To  prevent being sued  by  people in the Territory who  identified  themselves as   thinly  disguised  characters  in  the  novel,  Herbert   called   the  land   Capricornia. 

The Territory also provided  him with the  name  for  a later   Miles Franklin Award  winning   epic , Poor Fellow  My Country , which   he  proudly said  was   bigger than  the  Bible. The  title was  based  on  the  anguished   cry  of  an   Aborigine  who  was  imrisoned after he threw a  spear  at  a  policeman   who  shot  his   dog   at  Pine Creek .    

When Herbert was  a  boy in  Western Australia  , his  father , a railway worker,  discussed  the possibility of  taking up land in the Northern Territory and  breeding remounts  for the  Indian Army.

 In Melbourne , in the l920s,  Herbert,  intent on  becoming a  doctor ,  with  a writing  itch , churned out  a range of  material,including short  stories,  for  various publications.    Never  published was a  lengthy  novel ,Giants of Iron,  which mentiond vast  deposits of  iron  in  Western  Australia. 

In the l920s , Darwin , Port Zodiac in Capricornia , with its Chinese temple in chinatown and several Chinese owned businesses, was regarded by some as a  Chinese colony.

It certainly played a big part in Herbert's life. Photos from the files of Darwin resident    Bob   White give an insight into what the Territory capital was like.

The   above view of  Cavenagh Street  ,in the central business  district , includes part  of  Gordon's  Don Hotel - now an  ABC studio- and  the  Tree of  Knowledge, a major gathering spot. 

Mrs  Christina   Gordon, was a  prominent  Darwin identity  who owned  pubs, Star Pictures and  the Rendezvous Cafe.  When she ran  the Victoria Hotel  she was  dubbed    the   aviators ' mother   because she looked after the male and  female  pioneering   aviators  who  lobbed  in  Darwin. She  even  urged   Herbert   to open  a   chemist  shop.

At  one  stage   Xavier  and  his wife , Sadie, lived   in  what  had  had  been  a  former Chinese  gambling  den. Their residence included a  room   decorated with  spears  and  other  items, knocked to  the floor during  a party .  

In another  interesting   Bob  White photo there is a  Whites  Taxi  and a bicycle, a  common means of  transport , in  Cavenagh Street. What  could   be a  group  of  unionists  are  visible across  the  way , possibly   preparing  for  a  march  , a   man  carrying  a  flag  or  banner  nearby . 

In  late  l932 , two of  Darwin's  three  pubs  - Club   and  Terminus - were closed.  Another  Bob  White  photograph  shows some thirsty  Darwin  residents   , one  of  them  his  uncle, Vince . 

  

(Novels. Darwin. Herbert.)    

GRUESOME SHIPWRECK

Included  in the  current  Rare  Books Fair,  Melbourne , is  the   circa   1663, illustrated  account   of  the  wreck  of  the  Dutch  vessel    Batavia ,   and   the  terrible   events   that    transpired. 

The  book , by  the  ship's skipper, Captain Francois Pelsaert , at $55,000,  is  just  one  of  the many   fabulous  items , including artworks, photographs and manuscripts, being  offered  by  Douglas Stewart  Fine  Books, Melbourne.

During its 1629 maiden voyage from the Netherlands to Batavia , Java, with more than 300 passengers , mainly settlers , merchants and their families, the vessel came to grief on Morning Reef , in the Abrolhos Islands , off the West Australian coast.

 Forty  drowned  trying to  reach shore. Survivors were  grouped on two small  desolate   islands.

Pelsaert and a small group then set out in a sailboat along the WA coastline north across the Indian Ocean, to the settlement of Batavia. There he was given a vessel by the governor to sail back and rescue survivors two months later.

However, upon arrival he was confronted by the horrific discovery that a brutal and sustained massacre had taken place under the authority of Jeronimus Comelisz, the apothecary he had left in charge.

With a band of "mutineers", he had imposed a reign of terror in which more than 110 men women and children were massacred. Women had been subjected to sexual slavery .

Comelisz was seized by soldiers . Before being hanged , his arms were amputated by hammer and chisel , depicted in one of the book copperplates . Others in his group were quickly tried, tortured and hanged.

Two offenders, Wouter Loos , and a cabin boy ,Jan Pelgrom de By, were left as castaways on the Australian coast and were never heard of again .

The book once belonged to journalist Jan Francois Balbian Vester (l961-l990) an historian of the Dutch East Indies. There is a bookplate of his on the front free endpaper.

Less bloodthirsty is the London 1829 rendition of an Australian Gang-gang Cockatoo , by Thomas Lewin (1774-l840), member of a prominent family of ornithologists who wrote about birds in New Holland and Britain.

It is for sale at $65,000 . Information supplied by Douglas Stewart Books states the first Gang-gang sighting by Euopeans was made in 1801 and it was probably shot.

(Books. Shipwreck. Birds.)

UNIQUE MAP OF AUSTRALIA

Little Darwin strongly suggests that  the  brilliant   above  Peter  Burleigh  drawing should be  included in the  soon  to be  launched  campaign  to  attract   tourists  to  Australia.

It  presents  a  new  , exciting ,  fly- blown  continent  filled  with friendly critters , no shrimps visible . It  was  inspired  by  a roadtrip  Peter  made  from Canberra   to  Western  Australia  with friends  , dodging  grey  nomads  along  the  way . 

A seasoned traveller  , Burleigh once made a   dangerous trip from London to Morocco  in a  wonky van  with  journalist, activist , publisher  and  ALP politician, the  late   Pete Steedman , and his wife to be , Julie . Luckily, Steedman  went  about armed , and probably saved their lives  by jumping out   brandishing  a  weapon  when  men came   knocking on  the van door  at night .

Burleigh marked  the occasion with  the  above 2011 cartoon showing the  armed  Pete Steedman  statue - a gesture of Australian Friendship- being   replaced  in  Morocco .

There  was  another  dangerous episode in India. 

Expecting  a visit from men armed with baseball bats, Steedman jumped out with  a  knife  when  American singer- songwriter  Bob Dylan came knocking on  his door in  Melbourne. 

(Map. Tourism. Burleigh.)