BOUND FOR BOTANY BAY IN FIRST FLEET

Our excited  Shipping Reporter  discovered  another great offering from Douglas Stewart Fine Books, Melbourne - a  handwritten  letter  from  Midshipman Newton  Fowell , aboard HMS Sirius, off Rio de Janiero , on  August  6, 1787, the very day Captain Arthur Phillip  arrived  with the ll vessels of  the  First Fleet .  It is  listed   for  $150,000.  

 Written to  Fowell's   Honoured Father, it seems to  include a  request for a number of  things to be shipped to  him :

We are just now off Rio Janeiro [sic] on the Coast of Brazil South America from where a Packet is now under Weigh for Lisbon & have five Minutes time which I would not let slip to let you know I am very well & have great hopes of a Coms. [commission] every Day. I am of course very  happy and like the Officers very well. Capt. Philip [sic] has hoisted a broad Pendant [pennant] so I suppose he can here do anything with the Squad [Squadron] he Pleases. I am in want of a few things which I did not find in the Chest the first some Coarse Cloth for Towels & some Table Cloths fit for a Wardroom Mess. Leather for shoes and Cloth for Trousers.

The First Fleet would sail for Cape Town almost a month later, on  September 4 , and thence to New South Wales. HMS Supply was the first ship to arrive at Botany Bay on  January 18, 1788 ; three others arrived on the following day, and the remaining ships of the squadron, HMS Sirius among  them, dropped anchor on  January 20.

The  bookshop says Fowell , who joined the Royal Navy aboard HMS Ocean when he was  12 , he  the  subject of  a  favourable report  by  Captain Phillip   to  Lord  Nepean , is  known to have made several sketches at  Sydney Cove,  none of  which  survived.

 In a  second  letter  to his father , written from Batavia at  the end of July  in 1790, Fowell lamented the loss  of a  number of  precious curios  and sketches , including a plan of Botany Bay and Port Jackson  , and a very valuable collection of birds , in  the  wreck of  the  Sirius  at Norfolk Island , where  Fowell  bravely  offered  to  remain  aboard  the  doomed  vessel.  

After  the loss of the Sirius, Fowell, now a Second Lieutenant, was put in charge of a vessel  which made a  run back to  the  Sydney  penal settlement with  supplies. 

On the return trip from Java , Fowell, 22, died  from  fever on  August 25,1790.

(Fleet, Sirius, Letter.)

PIONEERING DRAG ARTISTE WOWED AUSSIE MINERS, KISSED UNCLE SAM

Yet again, Douglas Stewart Fine Books ,Melbourne , has  produced  latest acqusitions   lists  with   many items of  interest,  one  being  five carte de visites  of    English  comedian  and  female impersonator , Gilbert  Saroney , photographed  in Sydney in  l880 ,

He  spent  almost a year in Australia  and  , dressed as  an  old maid , was well received by  the Ballarat miners . Much later in his career, she developed into the film character called Giddy Gusher  .

She was a grotesque and talkative lady whose catchphrases included “I thought I’d die” and “Goodness, girls, was I embarrassed.” Saroney’s 15 Dec 1910 USA obituary called him “one of the first female impersonators of the old maid type. He was considered one of the funniest men in the show business.” 

The bookshop  says  Gilbert Saroney (Sarony / Saroni) is a very significant figure in the history of drag performance and crossdressing, being one of the first drag artistes to appear in  several  early American silent  films.

He  did a  cross dressing performance in a 1903 Thomas  Edison film   and also participated in what is probably the first gay kiss in cinema history in  the 1904 short film, Meet Me at the Fountain, directed by Sigmund Lubin. 

The carte de visites , priced at $3800, are from the collection of  Sydney actor, stage manager  and  playwright  Alfred  Dampier .

(Drag, USA, Bookshop).‘

Another  More

BOUNCING BABY WHALE

Frolicking  off  Magnetic  Island .   Vallis. .

 (Whale, Island, Vallis.)

RUTHLESS PRESS BARONS/ SPECIAL LEAD FOR YOUR PENCIL AND JOCKETTES OFFER

Rerun of  shocking  article in Darwin publication Troppo which revealed the truth about  heartless  press barons  and  their treatment of reporters decades ago . The  situation is obviously  even  worse  today.

(Spoof, Media, Frogs.)

TOOTHY PENANG MOMENTO

 Fond  memories  of   time  living in  the Malaysian state  , especially  the  tasty  renowned  Green House  Cafe  prawn  dishes and  wide  variety  of  Chinese  tucker  elsewhere  , are  reflected  in  this  nifty   wood carving  by  an  Australian  wheeler-dealer , an old   friend  of  this blog , with  the rare skill to  turn  metal  coathangers  into  model aeroplanes. He is still  floating about  South-east Asia  enjoying  the  exotic viands  and  looking  for collectables.  

  

(Penang,  Carving,  Dealer . )

STIRRING PORT MORESBY BREAKFAST

Airport  Hotel . Petros snapshot.

(Moresby,Airport, View.) 

IN SEARCH OF DRAGONS

 A recent visitor to Darwin was the  Holland America  Line's award winning   cruise ship , Westerdam , later  departing for Komodo Island , Indonesia .

(Darwin, Westerdam , Cruise .)

COAL- FIRED CARTOON FANS CLIMATE CHANGE THREAT TO PLANET

Megan Herbert  highlights  the contradiction  at  the Rising  Tide protest   blockade at the world's largest coal exporting port, Newcastle, New South Wales,  Australia , where  170  people  were  arrested .

More than 150 million tonnes of coal  pass  through  the  port  each  year , 2200 ships berthed there in 2012-13.

Add to this scenario  Trump's threat to pull out of the Paris agreement ,  scientists in Hobart  recently warning about the danger of the Antarctica  ice shelf  melting  causing   huge  sea level rises that would flood Australian coastal areas ,  tundra  thawing  releasing  carbon dioxide  in  the Arctic  circle, the  release of  fossilised   methane , the Cop 29 conference climate funding  branded  an optical illusion.  Merry  Christmas. 

(Coal, Blockade , Australia .)

PERAMBULATING BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Magpie  Geese and  Ducks . Vallis.   

SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE

 In  the  North Queensland  sugar town of  Home Hill  a show  of   support  for  Ukraine , under  increased   bombardment   by  Russia.   

 (Ukraine, Support, Russia .)