Historical book on pearl fishing

Press, 21 August 1979, Page 22

Historical book on pearl fishing

PA Wellington An unusual example of Tasman co-operation is about to produce its first dividend: a book. An associate professor in geology at the University of Sydney, Professor David Branagan. has returned to Wellington with a grant from the Austra-lia-New Zealand Foundation to complete a final check of his book against the original handwritten manuscript of Samuel Stutchbury’s journal of the Pacific Pearl Fishery Company’s South Seas expedition of 1825-27. The original manuscript, an important pre-Darwin record of scientific dis-

coveries in the South Pacific, was bought by the Alexander Turnbull Library from a Melbourne dealer seven years ago and has excited the interest of Australian historians of science. "This journal is important for the information on pearl-fishing technology and especially important because it records a pri : vate-enterprise venture and not an official scientific expedition,” said Dr Branagan. His research has been supported by the Alexander Turnbull Library Endowment Trust and the Australia-New Zealand Foundation.