HAMOND Walter

£9,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

First edition of Hamond s fascinating account of the island of Madagascar; sent by the East India Company to assess the feasibility of colonising the island, Hamond produced these two reports. The first comprises a description of the island, its climate and indigenous people while the second relays the benefits it would have to offer as an outpost for servicing the company s ships en route for the Persian Gulf and the Far East. Hamond, author and explorer, published a translation of Ambroise Par é s Methode de traicter les Playes faictes par Harquebuses et aultres batons a feu, 1617, 4to. He was in the service of the East India Company, and was employed by them to explore Madagascar and report on the advisability of annexing the island, of which he gave a glowing description. DNB Hamond spent four months on the island, as a surgeon. However his treatise portrays an exaggerated prospect of it, stating that for wealth and riches, no Island in the world can be preferred before it. As for gold, silver, pearle and precious jems, questionlesse the Island is plentifully stored with them great quantities of Aloes the first fruits of a most plentifull harvest, which is better than the gleanings of America . Early descriptions of Madagascar and it s vegetation illustrate the kind of attractions that tempted colonisers and traders to undertake arduous voyages to the island in pursuit of advancement. Walter Hammond, .. spent some time on Madagascar in 1630, (and) published a pamphlet in

• Binding: Hardcover

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