Natural History in the Contact Zone

Abstract

The emerging discipline of natural history sought order in nature, and this desire for order manifested itself in the organisation of museums at the European centres and in the schemata and protocols used by collectors. This chapter examines the practices of gathering and recording information about the natural world in the contact zones of the South Seas, as presented in the journals of prominent traveller-scientists. The argument is that the journal or factual travel account had a crucial role, both in the development of the science of natural history, and in shaping public perceptions of a wider natural world. The journal form used by traveller-scientists was highly organised, with a linear narrative whose authority was based on presence (and presencing) and the visual scrutiny of the eyewitness. Despite highly objective and rational intent, the content could be uncertain and even ambiguous, suggesting that observation and the identification of natural phenomena in unfamiliar territory was not straight-forward. In fact, due to difficult conditions of travel, the process of recording nature was often serendipitous and arbitrary. Furthermore, although scientific protocols demanded detachment and a disinterested eye, the observer/narrator’s objectivity was often compromised as he was forced into the role of actor in tense dramas within alien environments.