AustLit

The author discusses the significance of a handerkerchief, one of a number manufactured to be taken in an expedition to rescue the 'Captive White Woman' of Gippsland and now preserved in the La Trobe Library, as a crucial piece of material evidence in our understanding of this epidode in the history of colonial Victoria. 'In unpicking some of the threads which interweave this 'relic' and the White Woman story with broader narratives of colonial endeavour and with British cultural traditions this paper has examined the role played by text and textiles in the construction and maintenance of Empire. (p32)