MARITIME –
A private firsthand account of one of the earliest voyages to South Australia including a mutiny requiring a detour to Rio de Janeiro, a storm involving the loss of sails, drunken fights, and orgies On November 19, 1838, James Bell, then age 21, set out in the sailing vessel the Planter from St. Katharine Docks in London to travel to Adelaide, an infant colony half a world away and not yet two years old. He left behind family, good friends, and the mysterious “C.P.,” a young woman with whom he hoped one day to be reunited. The journey usually took 130 days, but due to the incompetence of the captain and the many misadventures encountered it took the Planter almost six months to reach its destination. Along the way it lost a crew, several passengers, and much livestock; it gained a new crew and at least one extra passenger. The drunken brawls and licentious couplings horrified James Bell…