Trim the Cat - Sydney, NSW, Australia
Posted by: 
paulspaper
S 33° 51.984 E 151° 12.780
56H E 334706 N 6251220
Quick Description: Small bronze statue of Trim the Cat, trusted companion of sailor Matthew Flinders. Trim is perched on one of the window ledges (facing Macquarie Street) of the Mitchell Library, right behind the statue of Matthew Flinders.
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 2/4/2009 12:18:45 PM
Waymark Code: WM5QYH
Views: 15
Long Description:Inscription at the statue:
TO THE MEMORY OF TRIM
The best and most illustrious of his race
The most affectionate of friends,
faithful of servants,
and best of creatures
He made the tour of the globe, and a voyage to Australia,
which he circumnavigated, and was ever the
delight and pleasure of his fellow voyagers
Written by Matthew Flinders in memory of his cat
Memorial donated by the North Shore Historical Society
From the (
visit link) website: "Trim the cat you may well ask. Yes this brave little feline was a beloved pet of Matthew Flinders. The black cat with white paws, chest and chin was actually born on the HMS Reliance in 1797 during a journey from Cape of Good Hope to Botany Bay. When only a little kitten it tumbled overboard into the ocean. Flinders and the crew were stunned as they watched the poor little tyke swim back to the ship and clawed its way back up a rope. Impressed, Flinders named the near drowned kitten after the faithful butler in Laurence Sterne's novel Tristram Shandy. From that moment on Trim and Flinders were inseparable and the cat continued to accompany him on all of his journeys.
Trim sailed on the HMS Investigator and survived the shipwreck of the Porpoise on the Wreck Reef at the Great Barrier Reef (1803) before heading back to England on the Cumberland. Unfortunately for Flinders and Trim the journey didn't go quite as expected and the two found themselves detained by the French on the island of Mauritius. There on the island Trim and Flinders kept each other company until one day Trim simply disappeared. Flinders feared his trusty companion had been nabbed by hungry slaves and eaten. "
