Cheese and Icebergs

These two clippings appear in the Asiatic Journal (December 1828). This journal was published around the first quarter of the 19th Century in Calcutta. It published stock market and exchange reports, news from other colonies and the region, local political debates, proceedings of the Asiatic Society and a selection of military proceedings. Lighter subjects were touched on also: literature, the arts and bits and pieces in a section called "Varieties". These two clippings come from the section on news from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Traders would pick up the local newspapers wherever they went so news could be reprinted by the local press elsewhere, and the knowledge made general. The original publications are cited at the end of the articles.





High Icebergs in low latitudes
An interesting little report here. Obviously a huge shelf had broken off Antactica not long before. A similar event happened in 2006, with one or two large icebergs making it as far as the coast of New Zealand around Dunedin (around 45 degrees South). People paid a lot of money chartering helicopters to land them on the icebergs so they could have champagne lunches on top before it melted. If you believe in global warming, this behaviour is sort of like a cow driving itself to the abbatoir, because it wanted to try driving, if you know what I mean.


Cheese
The second clipping today, which follows on from the above, is just plain weird. It would be interesting to trace this character when I have the time.