As said, the second half of the nineteenth century saw more and more Europeans heading for the Dutch East Indies, not so much to settle down there permanently, but to pay the country a short visit. Among them was the artist Frans Lebret, who, together with his brother Jan Hendrik, travelled to the Indies in early 1863. They were visiting their brother, a grower of sugar cane in Pasuruan (in East Java). After a stay of five months in the colony, they returned to the Netherlands. Frans Lebret kept a log in which he gives a lively account of his journey to and in ‘the East’. Like many other travellers, he marvelled at the flying fish that he spotted and drew during the voyage. Unfortunately, though, he could not preserve intact the flying fish that flew into one of the cabins. As it was drying out, one of its fins tore, and Lebret decided to throw the animal overboard. His manuscript was published as a book in 2017 by Walburg Pers, edited by Anne Leussink and Wyke Sybesma: Op reis met pen en penseel. Frans en Jan Hendrik Lebret als toerist naar Java, 1863.
Frans Lebret, Reise naar en over Java met de Overland-Maildienst der Messageries Imperiales door de Gebroeders F. en J.H. Lebret. Dordrecht, 1863. Manuscript. [D H 1006]