The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions, and on current affairs. The 1842 volume focuses strongly on China in the context of the First Opium War; the December issue reports the terms of the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong to the British. Books reviewed include John Lee Scott's account (also available in the Cambridge Library Collection) of his shipwreck and imprisonment in China during the war. The volume also includes descriptions of Japan, the Seychelles, Rio de Janeiro and New Zealand, and an article on the improvement of the Thames, together with a detailed essay on the evils of tobacco, and health advice for Europeans in Africa.