GOLD FLEET FOR CALIFORNIA - FORTY-NINERS FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. By Charles Bateson

Hardcover, good condition, pull out maps to front and rear end have some marks, and paper stuck to them. ex library, sellotape marks on boards, rough cut edges. Dust jacket scuffed, worn, edges, tiny closed tear to edge.

Publisher: Minerva Ltd, 1963

"When gold was found in California in 1848, a rush began that drew a quarter of a million people from all round the world. Seven thousand Australians and New Zealanders were among those who responded to the lure. They jostled for berths in ships making the long haul to San Francisco - vessels ranging from big sailing ships to little cutters of under twenty tons, many of them shockingly overcrowded and under-provisioned. In 1849-50 there were over 200 sailings from Australia and New Zealand. The fastest ship crossed in 68 days; the slowest in 271. Several were wrecked, and one - a schooner named the "I Don't Know" - went missing. Few of the Forty-Niners struck it rich. Life on the goldfields was hard, and many were glad to earn the price of a ticket home. Ironically, those who returned were the first in a changed tide of migration, for after the discoveries of 1851 Australia itself became the new El Dorado. Charles Bateson's GOLD FLEET FOR CALIFORNIA is a contribution to maritime history in the tradition of his earlier work, "The convict ships". Years of research have gone into its preparation. The interest of the narrative is above all a human one. This is the little known story of the people who ran mad after California - "completely bit by the yellow fever". They had nothing, and most of them found nothing, but they danced quadrilles on the poop deck as they voyaged into the unknown. Their spirit of adventure lies behind this history."

All books are sent free by courier postage within New Zealand.

Home