As Steve has shown, it has become difficult to administer a testing Whoisit with Professor Google lurking in the background. Steve is correct. The passages appear in Darwin’s account of the voyage of the Beagle and refer
to a call at Sydney in 1836. The Goulds visited Australia a couple of years later, but in the meantime worked with Darwin on his bird collection from the voyage (accompanying picture). Charles Dickens is an interesting suggestion Jenny. He was an authority
on Australian real estate, and cost of living, just a little later and from longer range -
https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/distant-paradise-dickens
Darwin and the Goulds
Beagle at Galapagos Islands – Sept/Oct1835
Darwin in Sydney – Jan 1836
Beagle arrives back in UK – October 1836
Darwin presents bird specimens to Zool. Soc. – 4 Jan 1837
Gould’s contribution on the Galapagos finches – 10 Jan 1837
John and Elizabeth Gould work on birds of the
Beagle voyage – up to June 1838
Goulds leave for Australia – about June 1838
Publication of Darwin’s
Journal of Researches during the Beagle voyage - 1839
Goulds return from Australia – about July 1840
Publication of Gould’s
Birds of Australia – Dec 1840-1848
Publication of Birds volume of
Zoology of the Beagle Voyage (edited by Darwin, text by John Gould, 50 colour lithographs by Elizabeth Gould) – 1841, the year Elizabeth died.
Publication of Darwin’s
On the Origin of Species - 1859
From: Steve Read <>
Sent: Monday, 2 September 2024 6:46 PM
To: Geoffrey Dabb <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] A WHOISIT
Our friend Charles Darwin, Geoffrey.
Google was remarkably well-informed this time, and took me directly to
https://darwin.thefreelibrary.com/The-Voyage-of-the-Beagle/19-1
even though the structure of the passage is a little different from your excerpt.
Regards
Steve
Biologist and Forest Scientist
26 Derwent St, Lyons ACT 2606
On Mon, Sep 2, 2024 at 6:07 PM Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <> wrote:
I recently read, about Sydney –
“The number of large houses just finished and others building was truly surprising: nevertheless, every one complained of the high rents and difficulty in procuring
a house.”
Also –
“In these woods there are not many birds; I saw, however, some large flocks of the white cockatoos feeding in a corn-field, and a few most beautiful parrots;
crows like our jackdaws were not uncommon, and another bird something like the magpie. The English have not been very particular in giving names to the productions of Australia; trees of one genus (Casuarina) are called oaks for no one reason that I can discover
…”
The author?
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