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“Map-gazing, to which I became addicted so early, brings the
problems of the great spaces of the Earth into stimulating
and directive contact with sane curiosity and gives
an honest precision to one’s imaginative faculty.”
- Joseph Conrad, National Geographic Magazine, March 1924
The Otago
Bangkok
Journeys
2
The Palestine
T H E I N S PI R AT I O N A L E A S T
The Otago
Gulf of
Conrad’s time in the East coincided with the last days of sail,
the rise of steam, and the high-watermark of colonial trade. His stories of
Dutch traders, English adventurers, Brunei rovers, and Malay, Bugis, and
Arab rulers unfold against a backdrop of exotic islandscapes, reef-sharpened
shallows, and deadly straits. Conrad’s characters develop within a
climate heavy with the threat of monsoon, typhoon, or tsunami.
SIAM
0
300
200
100
kilometers
Sea
No region on his global voyages inspired Conrad more than the lush, green archipelagos of
Southeast Asia, the ancient city of Bangkok; the busy port of Singapore, awhisper with sea
intrigue; the resource-rich rainforests of Borneo; the steamy, storm-crossed seas of South China,
Celebes, and Java; and the pirate-pillaged straits of Makassar and Malacca;
these are the settings for the South Sea stories and novels of Conrad’s canon.
The Vidar
Dashline Indicates
Portions of Journeys On
Other Vessels
Philippine
“Geography is the science of action,” claimed Joseph Conrad. Few writers ever lived a life of such active
adventure as that of the Polish exile who joined the British Merchant Navy, and voyaged to many of
the “lost, forgotten, unknown places of the Earth.”
Conrad, as captain of the Otago leaves Bangkok on
February 9, 1888, after long delays, with a cargo of
timber.
3
Windless seas and a choleric crew that stall her progress.
After three weeks, she reaches Singapore, where the
captain must recruit new crewmembers.
“This was the East of the ancient navigators,” Conrad wrote in Youth, “so old, so
mysterious, resplendent and somber, living and unchanged, full of danger and promise.”
‘Karain’
III The OTAGO
Andaman
Conrad’s sole command in the South Seas comes as captain of the
British barque Otago, from 1888 to 1889. He will immortalize this
star-crossed voyage in “The Shadow-Line”.
Conrad is forced to step into the shoes of Captain John Snadden,
who has seemingly gone insane and died on board. The Otago must
cross the point where Snadden is buried at sea, at the entrance to
the Gulf of Siam. Conrad must navigate the dangerous currents of
his gulf, sail out into the Indian Ocean and process to Melbourne
and Sydney. The voyage seems haunted by misfortune and the
ghosts of failure and despair.
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lit
Me
Sea
South China
Sea
“Almayer’s Folly”
“Lord Jim”
“The Rescue”
On January 4, 1888, Conrad relinquishes his post aboard 1
the Vidar in Singapore and receives a nomination for captain
of the Otago. Aboard the steamer Melita, he leaves Singapore
on January 24, 1888, to join the Otago in Bangkok.
‘The End of the
On January 24, 1888, Conrad leaves Singapore aboard
Tether’
the steamer Melita, to join the Otago in Bangkok.
O
Singapore
4
m
and crew changes, the Palestine finally begins
her last voyage East on September 19, 1882.
2 On August 22, 1887, Conrad joins the crew
Karimata Island
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Korzeniowski takes command of a rowboat
with three other sailors and land on Bangka Island.
They then proceed to Singapore aboard the
S.S. Sissie, arriving on March 22, 1883.
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Bangka Island
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Samarinda
Donggala
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Seven Islands
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“The Rescue”
of the Vidar in Singapore, travelling
continuously along the coast of Borneo
and Celebes.
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Celebes
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‘Freya of the
Seven Islands’
On April 2, 1883, an inquiry is held in Singapore into 4
the loss of the Palestine, and finds the master, officers, and crew
entirely blameless. Korzeniowski is honorably discharged on April 3,
1883 with full wages. Korzeniowski, who will later change his
name to Joseph Conrad, returns to Liverpool on May 1, 1883, aboard
the Spanish passenger ship Leon X111.
Tanjung Redeb
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The Otago finally sets sail from Singapore on March 3,
1888 for Sydney, arriving on May 7, 1888.
it
1 After numerous delays through gales, accident,
‘Youth’
“Lord Jim”
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The cargo of the Palestine is discovered alight 2
on March 11, 1883 as the ship crosses the
Bangka Strait. Three days later, the decks
explode. The crew finally abandon the burning
ship at 8.30a.m. on March 15, 1883.
Banjarmasin
Pulau Laut
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Indian
Ocean
in Java on June 20, 1887. Here, he suffers from a mysterious
disease and leaves for treatment in Singapore on July 6, 1887,
where he eventually joins the crew of the steamer Vidar.
Conrad serves as first officer of the S.S. Vidar from August 22, 1887
to January 4, 1888. His trading trips up and down the treacherous
Karimata and Makassar Straits will inspire ‘The End of the Tether.’
A.P. Williams (whose famous abandonment of the S.S. Jeddah provides
Conrad with a source for the youthful “Lord Jim”) has previously served
aboard the Vidar in 1882. The ship’s passages, from Singapore to the
settlements of Samarinda and Tanjung Redeb in Eastern Borneo, will
inform much of Conrad’s Eastern fiction. The Vidar is a local ship,
which, being English-owned, sails under the British flag. Captain
Craig skippers the Vidar and his fictional counterpart, Captain Henry
Whalley, plies a similar trading route aboard the Sofala in ‘The End of
the Tether,’ but with disastrous consequences.
J ava S e a
I The Palestine
Semarang
1883
1887
11 Mar - The cargo of coal onboard
the Palestine is discovered smoldering
in the hold
15 Mar - The decks explode and the
crew abandon ship, landing on
Bangka Island
22 Mar - Conrad and the crew
proceed to Singapore aboard the
S.S. Sissie
19 Sept - The Palestine
leaves for the Far East
18 Feb - Travels to Far East aboard
the Highland Penance
20 Jun - Reaches Semarang, Java
6 Jul - Suffers a mysterious disease and
undergoes treatment in Singapore
22 Aug - Joins the Vidar
1888
1895
1896
1898
Almayer’s Folly
4 Jan - Leaves the Vidar
24 Jan - Leaves Singapore for
Bangkok aboard the Melita
Feb 9 - Takes command of the
Otago and leaves Bangkok for
Sydney
Flores Sea
“An Outcast of the
Islands”
“Victory”
Timor Island
THE SOUTH SEA STORIES
1889
5 Jan - The Otago calls at
Melbourne
26 Mar - Conrad gives up
command of the Otago
3 Apr - returns to Europe
Surabaya
J A V
A
To Sy
dney
1882
S
II The VIDAR
1 As first mate on the Highland Forest, Conrad reaches Semarang
Conrad’s time as second mate on the doomed barque
Palestine will become the inspiration for his book ‘Youth’,
which he describes as a “feat of memory.”
On September 19, 1881, the 24-year-old Józef Konrad Korzeniowski
finds a berth on the 425-ton Palestine. The decrepit Bangkok-bound
ship, commanded by Captain John Beard, leaves London for
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne to collect a cargo of coal.
T H E J O U R N EY S T H AT I N S PI R E D
ao
remote trading settlement of Tanjung Redeb on the River Berau in
Eastern Borneo. Here, he meets the Dutch trader Charles Olmeijer, the
inspiration for his first novel, “Almayer’s Folly,” and learns of the
Lingards, a family of English traders. Conrad’s classic “Lord Jim” will
be partly inspired by the adventures of Jim Lingard. Tanjung Redeb
will be renamed “Sambir” in “Almayer’s Folly” and An “Outcast of the
Islands.” In these early novels, the character Captain Tom Lingard is
honored with the Malay title “Rajah Laut,” or “King of the Seas.” In
real life, William Lingard earned this title for fighting piracy along
the East Borneo coast. The settlement of Tanjung Redeb will be renamed
“Patusan” in “Lord Jim” and “The Rescue.” The title “Lord Jim” echoes the
local’s respectful appellation of the flawed English gentleman, “Tuan
Jim.”
Tarakan
ac
an
3 While first officer of the Vidar, Conrad makes four short visits to the
M
al
M
d
in
Charles Olmeijer’s trading post in
Tanjung Redeb, Borne, becomes
“Sambir,” providing the setting for
Conrad’s first novel, the story of the
ill-fated Dutch trader Kaspar
Almayer.
Outcast of the Islands
“Sambir,” 40 miles inland from the
Celebes Sea, on the Berau River, is
also the backdrop for the tale of
Captain Tom Lindgard’s trading
adventures
Cartographer: Kenny Ling
Projection: Orthographic
Central Meridian 110°E, Origin Lat 5°S
Elevation Data Classification: Natural Breaks
Map Source: CleanTOPO2, Justin Kavanagh, Conrad’s Eastern World by Norman Sherry (Cambridge, 1966), “Conrad as a Geographer” by Florence Clemens, The Scientific Monthly 51(5):460-65 (1940)
Image Sources: National Maritime Museum (London), Joseph Conrad Society of America, Transactions Publishers, Oxford University Press, Penguin Books, Wildside Press, Hesperus Press, Kessinger Publishing, Vintage Books USA, Thorndike Press, Random House
‘The Lagoon’
Set in an Indonesian rainforest,
the Malay Arsat tells his story of
betrayal and illusion to the
traveling English “Tuan.”
‘Karain: A Memory’
Published as one of Conrad’s Tales
of Unrest, ‘Karain’ recalls war and
intrigue among the Bugis and
Dutch settlers of Java.
1900
1902
1912
1903
Lord Jim
Typhoon
‘Falk’
The epic saga of Jim’s search
for redemption and identity
at “Patusan,” following his
transgression of the code of
the sea in his abandonment
of the Patna.
The Nan-Shan is steered into the
heart of nature’s fury by Captain
McWhirr’s unflinching act of will.
The ship’s destination is the treaty
port of Fu-Chau; she carries
Chinese workers from the province
of Fu-Kien (now Fujian).
Conrad’s tale of cannibalism
exposes the darker side of
“civilized” European society.
‘The End of the Tether’
‘Youth’
Captain Whalley’s burden of
Crippling gales, collision, delay,
blindness is stoically borne, as minor mutiny, fire and shipwreck:
desperation drives all aboard the Conrad’s first voyage to the East,
Sofala towards a tragic end.
aboard the Palestine,
sets the tone for a life of danger
and adventure at sea.
1915
1917
‘A Smile of Fortune’
The Shadow-Line
Conrad’s daring command of the
Otago through the dangerous
Straits of Torres is recalled - along
with a failed romance in Mauritius.
Conrad’s only command is fraught
with long loading delays, cholera,
windless seas, and the presence of
a supernatural force that seems to
choke the will of the crew.
1920
‘The Secret Sharer’
A castaway tests the character of
a captain in Conrad’s fable of the
clash between private and public
morality.
‘Freya of the Seven Isles’
Set among the string of isles west
of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean.
Victory
The Rescue
Set on the fictional island of
‘Samburan,’ the ‘round island’ that
symbolizes Axel Heyst’s spiritual
isolation, and his renunciation of
the greed-filled, and intolerant
world of the 19th century.
In the final part of the “Lingard
Trilogy,” Captain Tom Lingard,
discovers the meaning of
the Malay proverb “Even lizards
will give a fly time to say its
prayers.”