The Spice Islands Voyage

In 1996, the author set out on a traditional, native Indonesian travelling vessel, retracing the journey of naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace (the co-author, with Darwin, of "The Origin of Species") recounted in his travel book "The Malay Archipelago". This volume is the resulting travelogue.

---

The Spice Islands voyage is a trip among the Spice Islands of Indonesia on a traditional native sailing vessel and a quest to rediscover a remarkable Englishman who changed the way we see the natural world. Alfred Russel Wallace was the joint author of the theory of evolution by natural selection, yet his name has been overshadowed by that of Darwin. An intrepid naturalist, he wrote "The Malay Archipelago", one of the first travel books. Tim Severin used the book as a guide, when in 1996 he retraced Wallace's path through the Spice Islands, travelling through uncharted waters, observing unusual flora and fauna, and ancient systems of tribal rule. His own account of this journey is offered here.