Travel books are a great way to see a place - no need to struggle with luggage, just leave the author to bring you the most important and intriguing aspects of a country.
Such a travel writer was James Backhouse, a Quaker nurseryman of York in the 1800s. James could have spent his time with his plants in England but decided that he had to find out what was happening to Aboriginal peoples and British convicts in the Australian colony. We have to admire the bold Backhouse, who with his Quaker companion George Washington Walker, headed out to Oz as travellers under concern with the endorsement - and financial support - of London Yearly Meeting. For some years in the 1830s the two Friends walked the colonies caring pastorally for settlers, free and convict, and building the foundations of Quakerism in Australia. It was a tough-minded place (it still is, surely) but Backhouse sought out the colonial powers to speak his mind if the treatment of indigenous people, and convicts, fell below acceptable standards.
From all this came the riveting Narrative of a visit to the Australian colonies. Not only are there episodes of actual 'speaking truth to power' but a wonderful recording of observations of the landscape and plants of the country. So there is a glimpse of the social and religious life of the time, and a portrait of abundant flora and fauna. A good read!
Sadly, this marvellous book is out of print. But Australian Friends now want to introduce it to modern readers and are planning a reprint, with some additional material. There will be essays charting 19th century Quakerism in Australia to the present, explaining the meaning of travelling under concern, and a profile of conditions of the time for Aborigines in Tasmania and mainland Australia.
The Australian YM Publications Committee hopes a reprint of this classic text will raise the Quaker profile among the general public. Social history with a splice of adventure, and horticultural interest in the background. Destined to be a bestseller.

Labels: aborigines, australia, backhouse, international quakers, oz