Description
John Thomson, aged 17, leaves Scotland bound for Port Chalmers, New Zealand in 1861. In this book first published in 1912, he describes his experiences; as a ‘new chum’ on the Otago goldfields in 1862; his philosophical discussions with Te Whiti-o-Rongomai at Parihaka; and his ocean voyages under sail around the south coast of NZ and across the world’s great oceans.
His description of life at sea including his encounters with whalers, pirates, and sealers culminates in the four months he and the crew of the Bencleugh spent shipwrecked on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island in the winter of 1877.
The introduction by Rosy Fenwicke backgrounds the man, his family and why they left Scotland for an unknown land on the other side of the world. Placed in context alongside this story, is the history of Southern Maori up to and including the arrival of the first Scottish settlers of Otago, New Zealand.
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