"The Private Journal of Captain G.H. Richards: The Vancouver Island Survey (1860-1862)" (used book)

The Private Journal of Captain G.H. Richards: The Vancouver Island Survey (1860-1862)

edited by Linda Dorricott & Deidre Cullon

About the book

Used book. Paperback. Excellent condition.

Between 1860 and 1862 Captain Richards and his dedicated crew aboard the HMS Plumper and the HMS Hecate surveyed and charted thousands of miles of the Vancouver Island coastline, creating baseline information for the nautical charts we used today. Extensively annotated for and supplemented with excerpts from the journals of Second Master JTE Gowlland, Richards’ journal documents the aboriginal, colonial, nautical, and natural history of Vancouver Island and provides a unique and personal view of the challenges of sailing and surveying its powerful waters. Richards is revealed as a man of immense energy and diplomacy, his descriptions of First Nations are remarkably unbiased for the time, and his keen observations are a portal into the early social and political life of Vancouver Island.