The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher ... during the years 1843-1846

1848-50

Expeditions (Special Collections) Q115 S238 1843

London: Reeve and Benham

Herpestes brachyurus - Short-tailed Mongoose

Under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher (1799-1877), the HMS Samarang left England in February 1843 to make a ‘survey of the various coasts and islands in the Eastern Seas’ (Arthur Adams, preface to Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Samarang). The expedition party travelled to Borneo, Brunei, Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, Japan, Mauritius and many places in between. Captain Belcher was born in Nova Scotia and joined the British Navy aged 13 years. He travelled extensively on the world’s oceans throughout his career and wrote his Narrative of the Voyage of HMS ‘Samarang’, which was published in 1848. Although Belcher had a reputation for being difficult to get along with, he reached the rank of Admiral in the British Navy.