Description

The geologist Joseph Beete Jukes (1811-1869) studied at Cambridge under Adam Sedgwick and eventually became a prominent member of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. In 1839 he was appointed to a survey of Newfoundland, a place about which he had until then been in 'utter ignorance'. The explorers failed to find the hoped-for mineral wealth they had been sent to prospect for, and in 1841 Jukes joined the H.M.S. Fly as a naturalist for an upcoming expedition to chart the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. The Fly set sail for the Pacific in 1842, the year in which this two-volume account of Jukes' Newfoundland experiences was published. Volume 1 describes Jukes' arrival in Newfoundland, its rugged landscapes, and life in the fishing communities of this harsh North Atlantic outpost. Volume 2 focuses on Jukes' scientific observations, and includes descriptions of the island's natural history, geography and geology.