The Language of Waterborne Transport Used in Sygurd Wiśniowski's Dziesięć lat w Australii (Ten Years in Australia)

Abstract

This article presents translations and paraphrases of fragments of Sygurd Wiśniowski’s eighteenth-century Polish memoir Dziesięć lat w Australii (Ten Years in Australia) that deal with sea voyages and trips on inland waters. Interestingly, these relatively short subplots, which serve to illustrate the wide spectrum of Wiśniowski’s talents, share certain distinctive attributes: not poetic means of expression, but rather Wiśniowski’s ability to use everyday language and to appeal to readers who are not well-versed in travel on water. Wiśniowski strove to portray scenes connected with waterborne travel as unusual for the European reader yet at the same time as ordinary for the white settlers involved. In short, despite writing in Polish and hailing from a land without longstanding maritime traditions, Wiśniowski’s prose in Dziesięć lat w Australii (Ten Years in Australia) consistently demonstrates a clear, easy and knowledgeable command of maritime language.