Landfalls

Item: Landfalls
Author: WhichBook

Naomi J Williams

Based on true events, this fictionalised narrative of an ill-fated voyage of discovery comprises a series of personal reports, depicting key moments of the expedition at various ports of call. As you embark on this detailed account of every aspect of 18th century seafaring life, in all its lulls and drama, you will find yourself engrossed in a meticulously-realised armchair adventure, set in the last days of the Age of Sail.

Extract

A voyage of exploration always entailed surprises, of course – interesting ones, like the discovery of new places and specimens and peoples, and vexing ones, like finding that an expensive barrel of wine in the hold had spoiled, or learning too late, that the chief naturalist on board was an insufferable pedant. But this – the disappearance of an old Spanish town on the coast of Chile, a place that had been visited and mapped and described by other Frenchmen earlier in the century – was so entirely unexpected that it made one question the most basic verities, like whether or not one knew how to read a map or ply a sextant.

Parallels