A ship's manifest for the barque Selma of Adelaide, including Cognac, beer, Bordeaux, sherry and salted pork, as well as a sizable cargo, inall, calculated at 62,500 francs signed by the French merchants in Tahiti.

A ship's manifest for the barque Selma of Adelaide, including Cognac, beer, Bordeaux, sherry and salted pork, as well as a sizable cargo, inall, calculated at 62,500 francs signed by the French merchants in Tahiti.

In November 1853, the Selma, "so well-known in the Adelaide trade… changed hands. Mr Samuel Argyle having become the purchaser for the purpose of working her on a trading voyage to Tahiti and the Polynesian Islands. Her Royal Highness the Princess Tusana [sic] of Tahiti, we believe returns by this vessel" [The Argus 16 November 1853].

This prosperous trade was forestalled a year after the provisioning noted in this manifest. In February 1855 the crew mutinied and Captain Pike gave over the barque to a French man-o-war to take to Tahiti. The Selma was recorded as wrecked off Tahiti in 1855.

An interesting document relating to the early days of commercial shipping between Australia and Tahiti.