Diary of a cruise to the Solomon Islands, 1894

Component identifier:

Series 6

Content Summary:

The southern Solomon Islands had come under the jurisdiction of the Western Pacific High Commission in 1893 and Thurston undertook the cruise in his capacity as High Commissioner. He visited many islands including Guadalcanal, Savo Island, New Georgia, Russell Islands, Santa Cruz Islands and Tikopia. The diary, which is quite detailed, records his meetings with chiefs and other Islanders, traders and missionaries and also Cecil Wilson, the Anglican Bishop of Melanesia. Thurston wrote about conversations, such as an account of the murder of Bishop John Patteson in 1871, disputes and litigation, and his observations of villages, houses, churches, boats and crops. He also made notes on his reading, including G.L.D. de Rienzi's Oceanie (1836-37), Hernan Gallego's account of the voyage of Mendana in 1567-68, and Peter Dillon's Narrative and successful results of a voyage in the South Seas (1829).

At the end of the diary are notes of an inquiry by Thurston into the actions of Peter Edmund Pratt, a French trader based at Simbo Island, who was accused of shooting an Islander.

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