The Convict Ship and England's Exiles

London: Hamilton,Adams, & Co, 1849. 4th Edition. Hardcover. Good +. 4th Edition. Hardcover. SCARCE IN EARLY EDITION. Colin Arrott Browning (1791-1856) was a naval surgeon from Scotland. He became an M.D. of Edinburgh University Medical College in 1825. He first visited Australia as surgeon-superintendent in the convict ship Surry, to Sydney, in 1831 and ultimately served in this capacity on 8 convict ships in total, including the Earl Grey (Hobart, 1843). Browning, a religious man, protested against sick prisoners being embarked and complained of the quantity and quality of the medicines and medical comforts placed in convict ships. After one voyage, (truncated) he published England's Exiles (1842). It included verbatim reports of his frequent sermons, with medical details relegated to the appendix. An account of his experiences in the Earl Grey was published under the title The Convict Ship; a Narrative of the Results of Scriptural Instruction and Moral Discipline On Board the Earl Grey (1844). This volume contains both of these reports. According to the author's preface, he spent most of his first voyage in 1831 observing, then began implementing his own version of instruction for education and moral improvement and continued to modify it until his voyage on the Earl Grey, about which he writes in The Convict Ship. Small octavo. In original binding. Grey cloth-covered boards faded to brown on spine and around edges of covers. Gilt three-masted sailing ship impressed on front cover; gilt title to spine. Front joint and front spine are starting. One-inch piece of spine cover is missing at top. Minor scuffing around edges of boards. Pages are slightly yellowed but generally bright and clean. Some pencil scribbles on front free endpaper and on last two pages of tables. 351 pages, including 4 tables at end. AUS/051625. (Inventory #: 37942)