The Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery, Performed in His Majesty's Vessel the Lady Nelson … in the Years 1800, 1801, and 1802, to New South Wales

An 1803 account of the sea trials of a new ship, and the captain's impressions of Cape Town and Australia.

In 1800–2 the naval officer James Grant (1772–1833) sailed the Lady Nelson to Australia in order to test a new design of keel. This 1803 publication describes the sea trials, together with his impressions of Cape Town and Australia, their natural history and their indigenous and colonial populations.In 1800–2 the naval officer James Grant (1772–1833) sailed to Australia on board the Lady Nelson, a surveying ship that was the first in England to be built on the sliding-keel principle. In this 1803 publication, Grant assesses the merits of the design and documents various teething problems experienced during the voyage from England to Australia. He describes his stay at Cape Town, and his favourable impression of the living standard of the deported convicts at Sydney, which he found better than that of poor people in England. Grant records his experiences on the coast of New South Wales, his encounters with the Aborigines there, and the presence of coal deposits on the Hunter River, and even reports that the cabra grub is 'no bad apology for a better meal'. He also describes his return journey via Cape Horn, during which he was becalmed in the South Atlantic.