Drei Lebensabschnitte von Leo Bagrow (1881–1957)., by Alexander Wolodtschenko. Dresden: Selbstverlag der Technischen Universität Dresden, 2017. ISBN 978-3-86780-527-8. Pp. 68., illus. No price indicated (paper).

Abstract

translates as ‘Fortunate Australia’, is meant to celebrate the pastures of the western and northeastern reaches of Victoria, a state in southeastern Australia. The historic journey resulted in a number of scientific discoveries about the biology and geology of the region, as well as encounters with Aboriginal peoples. Stapylton served as the second in command to Mitchell, with whom he had several differences, including resentment over having to oversee the base camp while Mitchell embarked on a number of exploratory missions. Stapylton kept detailed journals of the expedition; his accounts, among others, helped spur a land rush. Although seemingly successful professionally, Stapylton’s personal life took a number of dark turns. In 1838, he fell victim to excessive drinking and the colonial authority suspended him from duty. His return to surveying resulted in tragedy when Aboriginals murdered him and an assistant while in the field in 1840. Gregory C. Eccleston, a professional surveyor and a scholar, reproduces Stapylton’s journal in his book Granville Stapylton Australia Felix: Second in Command to Major Mitchell. His book offers significant footnotes, photographs, art and maps to complement Stapylton’s account of the 1836 journey. Eccleston provides the reader with modern place-names and even photographs for many of the areas mentioned in the journal. Such a fine level of detail reflects on Eccleston’s extensive scholarship. Measuring 32 by 36 centimetres and numbering 250 pages with 46 pages of remarkable plates, the volume makes an ideal reference as well as a coffee-table book for those interested in the history and mapping of Australia. The idea for the book stemmed from Eccleston’s work in 1983 on a feasibility study for a 700-kilometre walking trail to commemorate Mitchell’s expedition, which opened in 1988. Eccleston retraced the journey with Mitchell’s meticulous account in hand. However, there was a break in the record, and Mitchell simply noted, for the period 2–19 September, to ‘see Mr. Stapylton’s work’. This prompted Eccleston to find Stapylton’s journal, itself a remarkable journey of sorts that commenced with telephone calls to everyone in Australia with the surname Stapylton. Eventually Ecclestone reached a descendent of Stapylton in England, who acknowledged that he possessed the journal and obliged Ecclestone’s request to microfilm the six field books. The descendent retained the original books, and the National Library of Australia received the microfilm. With the immense amount of information thus amassed in his research for the feasibility study, Eccleston prepared a thesis on Mitchell’s expedition for a master’s degree at Monash University, which the university published in 1992 as the book titled Major Mitchell‘s 1836 ‘Australia Felix‘ Expedition: A Re-evaluation. Granville Stapylton Australia Felix 1836 is more than a story about mapping, it also presents a microcosm of colonial Australian society, replete with unshakable hierarchies and racial divide. The aristocratic and educated Stapylton, although agile with the tools and process of land survey, struggled when communicating with his support team, some of whom were convicts. And it was with one of his men that Stapylton was killed. Tragically, but not unsurprising for the era, the killings were followed by revenge killings. Bigoted and angry presumptions about the Aboriginals charged with the crime marred the trial and turned it into a mockery of justice that ended with the defendants hanged from a windmill. Contrasting with those dark episodes, however, were great moments of scientific discovery and acts of humanity. Notable among the geological discoveries was the first European finding of australite, a black tektite having shapes like shirt buttons or bowls. The survey team also sighted now-extinct animals like the pig-footed bandicoot, a small marsupial, and the white-footed rabbit-rat, a kitten-sized rodent. In addition to Mitchell s contributions to science, he demonstrated charity by providing care and schooling for Stapylton’s infant son until the boy matured into a young man able to work.