Far Off; Or, Asia and Australia Described With Anecdotes and Illustrations — Background and Themes

Geography as Moral Instruction

The catalog lists Far Off under "Australia -- Description and travel" and "Asia -- Description and travel," but the excerpts reveal that description is secondary to moral judgment. In the section on Bokhara, Mortimer describes the city's religious practices—mosques in every street, boys beaten for sleeping during prayers, students spending years in colleges—but immediately condemns them as "wicked inventions of Mahomed." She praises the Vizier's respect for Christians as "people of the Book" yet warns that missionaries are unwelcome. The geography serves as a backdrop for evaluating non-Christian cultures against Protestant norms, not for neutral observation.

The Martyrdom of Stoddart and Conolly

One of the most detailed anecdotes recounts the executions of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly in Bokhara. Mortimer presents their deaths as a cautionary tale: Stoddart's initial pretense of converting to Islam is called "wicked," but his final declaration—"I die a disbeliever in Mahomed, but a believer in Jesus"—redeems him. Conolly's last words, "We shall see each other in paradise near Jesus," reinforce the Christian martyr narrative. This episode, while based on real events, is shaped to fit Mortimer's didactic purpose, emphasizing the dangers of foreign travel and the importance of steadfast faith.

A Child's-Eye View of the World

Despite its adult concerns, the book is written for children. The preface addresses "parents and teachers" and defends its "simple, superficial, desultory character" as suited to "volatile beings." The prose often mimics a child's perspective: in Bokhara, boys "bawl out their foolish lessons" and have "no time for play, except in the evening." The frontispiece story features little Esther, a Jewish girl, singing a hymn and declaring "Jesus Christ is our Redeemer." These details suggest Mortimer aimed to engage young readers through relatable figures and vivid, if biased, scenes.

Readers approaching Far Off as a straightforward geography will find instead a moralized travelogue where every location is a stage for religious instruction. The book's value lies not in its factual accuracy but in its reflection of mid-19th-century Protestant attitudes toward Asia and Australia. For modern readers, it offers a window into how children were taught to view the world through a confessional lens, blending curiosity with condemnation.

There’s something poignant about old books that travel so confidently—Mortimer’s certainties feel distant now, almost fragile. I found myself thinking of that while turning through Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan: Second Series — A Reader’s Guide, where the unfamiliar isn’t a lesson but a quiet mystery. Both ask us to look elsewhere, yet one instructs while the other simply invites lingering. That difference lingers with me.