September, 2026

The Pacific island leaders are currently meeting at their annual forum, this year held in the Palau Islands in the north western Pacific.

 

For those with an interest in 18^thc voyages, the East India Company, China, and shipwrecks, the Pelew Islands, as Palau was known at the time, were famous for the wreck of the East India Co. Packet ship the Antelope under Capt. Henry Wilson.  The Antelope left England in 1871, sailed successfully to Macao, but on the way back, was wrecked on a reef in the Pelew Islands in August 1783. Wilson and his crew were able to build a new boat from the wreckage and sailed back to Macao, then took a Company ship back to England, arriving in July 1784.

 

But it was not only Wilson and his crew who became notable. Wilson carried with him a son of the Pelew King, Prince Lee Boo. The Prince caused much excitement in England, but sadly, as happened to so many people visiting at the time from the far off countries, died of smallpox only 5 months after his arrival.

 

All this has, inevitably, been recorded. George Keate published an account of the Pelew Islands, including the Antelope wreck, in 1788. Keate, with whom Prince Lee Boo lived for a while, used journals, logs and interviews to piece together his account,  and it went into several editions and translations.

 

We have for sale two editions, of 1808 and 1818 specifically compiled for children, based on Keates account.  What child, even today, is not fascinated by shipwrecks and great tales of survival?