The Prose Style of Henry Kingsley: Review of 'Travelling in Victoria', Henry Kingsley, originally published in 'Macmillan's Magazine', December 1860

Abstract

This essay is typical of the prose of Henry Kingsley before the decline in both his fortunes and his fluency. It was originally put to paper about 1858 and, doubtless, embellished for its appearance in the house magazine of his publisher. Its tone is one of jolly reportage, of news from a frontier still open, and yet of concern at what may be happening there, notably in his prediction of the likely fate of the aborigines as the mining overtakes their territory. His ear for language is clear, as he records: 'bowie knives' (140a), 'kootooing' (140b), 'Kauri pine' (141b), 'taking a run home' (141b), 'exceeding green new chums' (142b), 'cabbage-tree hats' (143a), 'the store, or village shop' (147a), "wooden nutmeg" (147b), 'the lead' of gold bearing rock (148a), (149a), or the mining 'holes' (149b) and a 'full corroborry' (150a), or the calling of 'Coo'ee' (150b). He also savours all place names, from the appropriateness of 'Fiery Creek', to the beauty of 'Laningeryn', or the hideous nature of 'Tuckerimbid'. The peculiar zest for life, which his Australian materials manifest, is apparent in his delight in all men, in nature, and in all creatures, and from his savouring the little incidents which he makes into genre pieces, such as colonial behaviour in boarding trains, the upsetting of the dray, or the behaviour of miners.