One Man and his Dog
English explorer Major Edmund Lockyer tries to buy a puppy in Queensland, but ends up paying the owner to keep him.
1825
King George IV 1820-1830
English explorer Major Edmund Lockyer tries to buy a puppy in Queensland, but ends up paying the owner to keep him.
1825
King George IV 1820-1830
In September 1825, Edmund Lockyer (1784-1860) led an expedition through the upper reaches of the Brisbane River in what is now Queensland, reporting back to Sir Thomas Brisbane, Governor of New South Wales, on the possibilities for agriculture and mining. His contacts with the Aborigines were cordial, as this extract from his Journal confirms.
THE attachment of these people to their dogs is worthy of notice; I was very anxious to get one of the wild native breed of a black colour, a very handsome puppy, which one of the men had in his arms.
I offered a small axe for it; his companion urged him to take it, and he was about to do so, when he looked at his dog, and the animal licked his face, which settled the business; he shook his head, determined to keep it.
I tried him afterwards with handkerchiefs of glaring colours, and other things, but it would not do — he would not part with his dog. I gave him, however, the axe and the handkerchief.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.