That formidable foe, ennui, that we have to fight whenever we cross the world by air was far more formidable when the world could only be crossed by sea. The intrepid explorer of Africa and very gifted artist John Thomas Baines (1820-1875) was a lively-minded man determined to fight the tedium of his six-week, March-to-May voyage in 1855 from Liverpool to Melbourne aboard the Bluejacket. And so he produced a weekly handwritten, illustrated newspaper, 'The Blue jacket Journal', for circulation on the ship. The first edition opens with a promise that the journal will 'enliven the voyage'. It continues to claim that 'Through the medicine of this Journal fresh sources of amusement will be opened' and invites readers 'who are willing to join in a campaign against that formidable foe Ennui'.
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