A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 2

In the early years of the nineteenth century a small British squad set out to finish the first true mapping of the continent that would become Australia. Commanded by a determined officer aboard the Investigator, the expedition pressed on through uncharted waters, later continuing on the armed Porpoise and the sturdy schooner Cumberland. Their journey offered a vivid picture of a rugged coastline, from the tangled inlets of Broken Bay to the remote reaches of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and introduced listeners to the first systematic charts that finally revealed the continent’s true shape.

The narrative also follows the crew’s sudden misfortune when the Porpoise was wrecked, forcing a desperate scramble for safety and supplies. As they pressed onward, encounters with Indigenous peoples, meticulous natural‑history sketches, and careful astronomical measurements bring the era to life. Listeners will hear the excitement of discovery, the tension of survival, and the painstaking work that produced the detailed maps and plant illustrations that still inform our understanding of early Australian exploration.