Northmost Australia, Volume I

By Robert Logan Jack

Where the chart ended, danger began. Across Cape York Peninsula and its surrounding waters, navigators confronted reefs, storms and uncharted passages while attempting to define coastlines, channels and islands that resisted easy mapping. This documentary history follows the gradual construction of geographical knowledge through maritime exploration, coastal surveying and encounters shaped by imperial rivalry, trade and the prospect of settlement. Explorers' journals, diaries and official reports bring the work close to the uncertainties of navigation, while charts, maps and illustrations reveal how observation became record. Analytical commentary tests historical accounts against modern charting, exposing discrepancies and clarifying the identification of rivers, reefs and waterways. Alongside the maritime evidence, Robert Logan Jack contributes first-person observations from geological and prospecting expeditions, extending the enquiry inland to natural history and mineral resources. Rather than imposing a single heroic narrative, the work assembles varied voices and documents into a layered account of persistence, error and revision. Shipwreck, shortages, disease and conflict during encounters with Indigenous peoples remain part of the record, as do the practical demands of surveying unfamiliar coasts. The combination of primary testimony and comparative analysis shows geographical knowledge being formed through competing claims, hazardous journeys and repeated correction. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9377787203
• ISBN13: 9789377787202
• Release Date: November 2026
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 442 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"