Mariners Are Warned!: John Lort Stokes and <I>H. M. S. Beagle</I> in Australia 1837???1843

In 1837, John Lort Stokes was commissioned by the British Hydrographic Office to chart unknown parts of the Australian coastline in the H.M.S. Beagle, the sailing ship that Charles Darwin made famous. Thus began the oceanic career of the last Royal Navy surveyor and a great Australian seaman whose stories are recounted in this biography. Through his travels, Stokes circumnavigated Australia twice, discovered the Fitzroy, Albert, and Flinders rivers, and charted a graveyard of sailing ships known as Bass Strait. Stokes's adventures are told by an experienced seaman who captures a sailor's awe and outrage at the breathtaking foolishness of this earnest voyager.