Old School Ship-to-Shore Communications I got a kick out of reading the article about Small’s Light (Sea History 165), in particular the part about communicating by message in a bottle. It brought back memories of when I was a first class-man at SUNY Maritime College. We were crossing the
Atlantic on the way to Europe in 1968. My shipmate, Dick Beza, and I decided to throw some bottles into the ocean with a note inside to see if anyone would find them. The enclosed letter is what I got back, not all that long afterwards. I kept it all these years. The photo is of the boy who found it—near a lighthouse I might add. I recently tried to find José with no luck. Just thought your readers might like to know that notes in a bottle work! Capt. Paul Lobo San Francisco, California The letter reads— August 16, 68 Mr. Paul Lobo and Richard Beza: I found your message in the bottle here in Flores Island by the coast of the lighthouse, at the north of the island, yesterday August 15 – 68. As you can see it didn’t take long to find it and it works very well. I close hoping that you will answer this one. José Orlando Barcelos Farol Albarnaz, Ponta Delgada Flores, Azores, Port.
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On Finding Matthew Flinders The discovery of the long-forgotten British naval explorer, hydrographer, and cartographer Matthew Flinders in January 2019 made world news. It introduced Flinders, who, while well-known to Australians and a certain number of maritime historians and aficionados, was unknown to a global audience who had no idea of who this man was, and why he is still important. As an archaeologist who exhumes the bones of the past, both figuratively with sunken ships, but also human remains, the discovery resonated with me personally. The resolution of a Victorian-era cold case is indeed significant, but the discovery of Flinders’s resting place has a deeper meaning. The Royal Navy explorer’s remains, soon to be studied by forensic anthropologists, will yield information on his ailments. Flinders died at age forty, following his long confinement by the French on Mauritius during the Napoleonic Wars; his bones may speak to what ended his life. He will then be reinterred, ostensibly in more public circumstances, and in a marked grave that befits his stature as one of the great navigators of his time. The greater good done here is more than the resolution of historical curiosity
courtesy state library of new south wales
Letters
Matthew Flinders (1774–1814) and a forensic analysis. In the midst of the fast-paced, breaking news cycles of our time, Matthew Flinders has transitioned, for a while, into the subject of media interest. It’s more than an opportunity for recognition more than two centuries since his death. This is an opportunity for a reminder of how much we, in this time, owe Flinders and his contemporaries for the world in which we live. While there were immediate consequences to these exploring expeditions, as the world was “opened” and connected by seafarers for the first time, our world today
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