Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859, unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair

1861-75

Expeditions (Special Collections) Q115 N9 1857; 1857e; 1857f

Wien: Aus dem kaiserlich-königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei

The Austrian Imperial Novara Expedition, 1857-59. With a crew of 345 and a scientific staff of seven, the Novara set sail from Trieste (now in Italy) on the 30th April, 1857 to circumnavigate the globe. An ambitious and important journey for its time, some of the material collected during the voyage is still being studied today. Among the specimens brought back to Europe were the leaves of the cocaine plant, from which the first pure cocaine was extracted in 1860. Christian Gottlieb Ferdinand von Hochstetter (1829-84) was the geologist aboard the Novara who was encouraged by Governor Sir George Grey (1812-98) in Cape Town to remain in New Zealand in January 1859 when the Novara sailed for home. During his sojourn in New Zealand, Hochstetter travelled widely with the German Julius Haast (1822-87) and made many geological observations and recordings en route. Hochstetter is called by some ‘the Father of New Zealand Geology’. He returned to Trieste in January 1860.