Hermann Beckler Livres

First-hand accounts of the myth-laden Burke and Wills expedition are remarkably few, in contrast to the reams of subsequent commentary and conjecture. Wills's journal and statements by others in the party were published at the time, but little more. Hermann Beckler, botanical collector and doctor to the expedition, wrote the only other substantial account, in his native German. The manuscript remained with his family for nearly a century. It is now published for the first time. This highly readable account, with drawings and maps, offers insights into the causes of the expedition's failure-an ill-chosen leader and route, and inappropriate and excessive supplies. In increasingly desperate conditions Beckler collected and identified the native flora, and recorded vivid and positive descriptions of the landscape and the Aboriginal people. His acute observations indicate what might have been achieved had the expedition pursued its scientific brief.

Australien Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts: Der 'fünfte Kontinent' durchlebt stürmische Pionierjahre. Wagemutige Forscher machen sich auf, die noch weitgehend unbekannten Landmassen zu erkunden. Einer von ihnen ist der deutsche Arzt Hermann Beckler, der in seinen Briefen und Berichten den nüchternen, unbestechlichen Blick des Naturforschers mit der Anteilnahme des Humanisten verbindet.