Marianne North was one of the most remarkable women of the Victorian era. An unmarried lady of independent means born into a highly literate and artistic environment, she became an intrepid traveller, an outstanding botanical artist and an illuminating writer. This new volume, edited by Helen Vellacott, presents her own lively account of time spent in Australia and New Zealand. Although here for less than a year, she managed to travel extensively in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania and journey through both islands of New Zealand. Her keen powers of observation and wry humour make this a revealing and entertaining account of life in the Australasian colonies in 1880-1881. Illustrated with full colour reproductions of her exquisite paintings of antipodean flora and fauna and line engravings and photographs from contemporary publications. (Dust cover).