August 1852

4             Wednesday. We left Liverpool at 10 a.m. West wind. At 2 o’clock the tug-boat was ungeared, also the Pilot let us do our best.

5             Thursday. West wind, rather boisterous. Several of the passengers began to work their pumps. They appear to be very ill. Wind contrary to our progress. The ship tacked across the channel, not making much progress.

6             Friday. SSW wind. We were telegraphed last night at Holyhead, but the first thing this morning there was Holyhead close to. A great deal of sickness on board.

7             Saturday. Wind ditto. Good breeze but against us. Near Ireland. Tacked towards Mother Wales.

8             Sunday. Ditto. Ditto. At 10 a.m. a bell rang for the assembly of passengers to attend church service which was read in the usual form by some of the passengers. Another service took place at 4 p.m.

9             Monday. WNW wind. Fair. I saw some large fish jumping about this morning, called black whales. I don’t feel well this morning. Took some pills. There is a great deal of sea-sickness still. I have not had any of it yet.

10           Tuesday. NW fair wind. Fine day. Going 8 knots an hour. Seen no land since yesterday. Myself quite well.

11           Wednesday. Ditto. Ditto. Heavy rain. A great deal of sickness. Great many large fish jumping about in large numbers.

12           Thursday. Fine. Little NW wind. This will be a long voyage. Only one week and going at 8 knots an hour. We are in the Bay of Biscay. This Bay is 400 miles long. The ship rolled very much last night. Hard to stay in bed.

13           Friday. NNW good breeze. 700 miles from Liverpool. We have plenty of everything to eat here – plum-pudding almost every day, plenty of butter. We are not short of anything to eat yet.

14           Saturday. Cross-wind SSW, the very point we want to go to. Blowing hard, small rain. In the evening we had a heavy gale of wind contrary to our progress. The ship rolled very much during the night.

15           Sunday. Wind ditto. I was thinking much about home all day. Seth Evans is suffering from more sea-sickness than any one.

16           Monday. Ditto. Ditto. A ship passed close this morning. She left Liverpool 3 days after us – called Earl Dorado. Change in wind NW, very rough.

17           Tuesday. W wind. We don’t make much progress. 3 vessels in sight, no land. At 3 p.m. the wind changes to our favour.

18           Wednesday. NW wind, fair. We had a rough night. Very few on board slept any last night. Going 10 knots an hour.

19           Thursday. Ditto. Ditto. Fine day, 5 degrees hotter than yesterday. All passengers done with sea-sickness. Seth Evans is just beginning to eat a little today. We are going to warmer climates every day. Fast progress. 10 knots.

20           Friday. NW wind. Nothing particular today. Nothing to be seen except water and a great many flying fish.

21           Saturday. Ditto. Ditto. From 7 to 8 knots. We are on the coast of Africa. Nothing particular. My health is good so far, thank God.

22           Sunday. E wind. Going 9 knots an hour. Church service in the usual form at 10 a.m. and also at 6 p.m.

23          Monday. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Very hot. We are on the Mediterranean Sea (?) but could not see the land.

24           Tuesday. NE wind. We are making fast progress every day. This will be a long voyage. Only 3 weeks yet – such a miserable life. We spend the day, some lying on the deck, others playing cards, others reading, others in bed.

25           Wednesday. NE wind. Went 240 miles from 12 yesterday to 12 today.

26           Thursday. N by E wind. We are getting hot bread every morning for breakfast. We are each giving 2s0d to the baker for baking our allowance of flour the size of wickan every morning.

27           Friday. (This part of the diary is missing, the paper having been torn.)

28           Saturday. (Diary partly missing). Ditto. Ditto. Since yesterday 160 degrees in the shade, 120 in the sun.

29           Sunday. Ditto. Ditto. Church service was read as usual at 10 a.m. At 2 o’clock p.m. a very heavy storm came quite near us and the sea rolled towards us like mountains. We have not much wind but very heavy rain. The wind went in another direction. The rain came down in abundance till night.

30           Monday. NW by W wind. We don’t make much progress. I feel very ill – in bed all day. The Doctor gave me some medicine. My stomach is bad. A great many are complaining. By (reason) of the hot weather, the water has got bad. I bought a filter in Liverpool and it will make the water clean and good. It runs through a sponge down to a stone jar, making it good. Only for this I don’t know how I would manage this water. It cost 8s/0d. When it is 12 o’clock here it is 2 o’clock there (Note: probably meaning at home). After crossing the Line it will get back again.

31           Tuesday. NW by W good breeze and it is very acceptable this hot weather. The wind is quite hot all night. The majority of the passengers are sleeping on deck all night. My window is open all night close to my face.

September 1852

1             Wednesday. No wind. Thank God I am right again. The Captain is expecting to see a ship for England which will take letters for us.

2             Thursday. Ditto. Calm. We had a boat down – 5 of us in it in the middle of the ocean. No wind. A child was born this morning.

3             Friday. E wind. We met the ship which took our letters about 2 o’clock. We sent a very large bag to her with our boat.

4             Saturday. W by N nice breeze. We have not made progress this week. At 5 o’clock this p.m. we had awfully heavy rain. It was over by 9.

5             Sunday. W wind. Good breeze. Much colder after rain. Church service was read in the usual manner. After dinner I saw 200 large fish all in one lot jumping on top of the water. Another child was born this morning, a boy. This is the second. Both are doing well also their mothers.

6             Monday. SW wind. Good breeze. 3 ships in sight. One came alongside. The 2 Captains spoke together. She was from Glasgow and sailed 4 days before us. She is bound for Singapore. (I hope the reader will excuse this writing – the ship is shaking.)

7             Tuesday. W wind. Good stiff breeze rather against us. All well on board. 4 ships in sight.

8             Wednesday. Ditto. Little progress. We enjoy ourselves reading, playing cards or different games. Others in bed. A 16-month old child died. He had been ill all the time.

9             Thursday. SW wind contrary to our progress. At 6 a.m. a funeral took place. The service was read as usual. The little corpse was sewn up in a piece of canvas with a 20 lb. weight with it. The body was placed on a piece of plank. One end rested on the side of the vessel and two sailors held up the other end. When the service had been read and the proper word said, the sailors lifted up one end of the plank until the corpse dropped to his water grave. Nobody was allowed to look over (the side) to see it dropped. (This is a bad place to write. The vessel is leaking very much).

10           Friday. SW wind. No good. What a long miserable voyage this will be.

11           Saturday. Ditto. We are not much nearer the Line this last week. Few ships in sight.

12           Sunday. S by W good breeze. The weather is much colder. One of the children born on board was christened after the morning service. (She was) called Jane.

13           Monday. SE what they call Trade Winds – the same all the year round in this part. Going 8 knots ……. (missing) …… no alteration in the wind these last nine or ten days. We are going 8 to 9 miles an hour in the right direction. (The wind) blows in this part (the) whole year from just the same place E by S. We are 25 degrees south of the Line. We have made good progress to here. We have had but very little rain since we left. I have nothing particular to write. No ship in sight for some days. The first thing I saw last Sunday morning was some man killing a pig for dinner for a few of us. The second (thing) was two strong chaps fighting. The Captain went to them and put the two of them in irons and put them in a dark place together.

23           Thursday. The Trade Wind is done. We don’t make much progress. I suppose the corn is all in stacks with you by this time and me here doing nothing. I am well satisfied here now too (much more than I was at first). We are all in good health, thank God, and have plenty to eat – hot bread for breakfast every morning. At 5 o’clock this evening we had a change of wind from E to S. Little rain. Weather beginning to get cold. No ship in sight.

24          Friday. S wind. We have not made much progress. One ship in sight. We have not consumed a third of our allowance since we started until this week. The weather is getting cold and we are eating much more now. Our allowance is as follows – biscuit 3½ (lb.). As yet we eat very little of them. We are getting plenty of beef and pork and good flour 3½ (lb.). We are getting it baked – one roll every morning – which is what it will run to. 1 lb. sugar – that is plenty. 10½ oz. butter. This has run short this week. 3½ lb. rice – that is plentiful. Preserved potatoes – we have plenty of them but few of us like them. 1 lb. raisins, pickles and settle. We are doing well considering there are (32) 40 of us eating together. (There is an increase in the number of passengers – the sow had eight young ones last night!)

25           Saturday. E wind, little of it. There was a Dutch vessel close to this morning. Going 3 miles an hour. Slow work. Very fine day.

26           Sunday. Ditto. a.m. church prayers as usual. At the conclusion the mother of the three-week-old baby presented her beautiful daughter to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. This was performed by one of the passengers. The parents of the infant were farmers from Yorkshire. This is the eighth Sunday for me to be on board the Earl of Derby – a long time.

27           Monday. E wind. Slow sailing. One vessel in sight. Nothing particular. Our health has kept well so far.

28           Tuesday. South wind going back and forward. No progress towards our journey’s end. We have the same kind of weather now as you have there, the same time and everything. We are between South America and the Cape of Good Hope. It is very cold one side and hot the other side. We are in the middle of the ocean, quite between them.

29           Wednesday. Changeable wind. Slow sailing. About 3 o’clock this morning the vessel rolled once or twice very badly. Some were threwn out of bed. There was a great disturbance among the passengers in a short space of time. We had in this cabin a cask of flour, oats, male rice and preserved potatoes. They were capsized and mixed together. The vessel rolled far worse when there was no wind. The masts shake from one side to the other until the sails touch the water.

30           Thursday. North wind. Fast sailing. 8 to 9 miles an hour. We all enjoy ourselves much better when the wind is fair.

October 1852

1             Friday. NW wind blowing. Heavy rain since last night. No ship to be seen.

2             Saturday. Ditto. Ditto. We are slow – 6 knots an hour. Rain here. Llanerchymedd fair. I would like to be in it. Hope there are good prices for cattle this year and that your harvest is a large one and safely gathered in. Good weather with us.

3             Sunday. NW wind. Fast sailing since 12 o’clock last night. 9 knots. No church service – the vessel rolled too much. We spent the day – some in bed, others walking on deck.

4             Monday. NW wind. Slow sailing. 4 knots. Busy day. Weigh out all our provisions for the week. They are afraid …… (missing) …… short of some articles. Coffee, tea and sugar are nearly done. Our butter is 10½ oz. per week and it is done sometimes (by) Friday. Then (we) do without.

5             Tuesday. No wind. We have yet 7000 miles to go (we are nearly at the Cape of Good Hope). We are getting our boxes up on deck once a month. The last time my clothes were very mouldy. I took them all out (it was an awfully hot day), dried them and cleaned them. When I opened my chest today, I found everything all dry and sweet. I took out the crock of butter which I had from Mother and found it sweet and good, when others were obliged to throw many pounds over to the sea.

6             Wednesday. E by N wind. Fast sailing. 10 knots an hour since last night. In the evening a better breeze. Going 12 knots. Good work.

7             Thursday. N wind. 11 to 12 knots. Rain. The days are getting longer where we are now. This last fortnight the sun rises at 5 and sets at 7. It has once been 12 o’clock with us, 2 o’clock with you. We are going just the same as you would go from Amlwch to Holyhead round Menai Bridge.

8             Friday. N wind. Sailing to the SE by E. Good breeze. 9 knots. No vessel in sight. The weather is getting very cold where we are now. The thermometer is 54 in the shade, 45 out. Our health is good and everything coming on well.

9             Saturday. Going to the right point. 10 not 4 weeks more of this weather will take us to our journey’s end. I feel myself better than (at any time) since I came on board.

10           Sunday. Fair wind. Going about 240 miles every day now. Church at 10 o’clock and 3. After the last service, the funeral took place of the first child to be born on board 6 weeks ago. Therefore, we committed his body to the deep (this was the second).

11           Monday. Fair wind NW. 8½ miles an hour. Nothing particular. A great many strange birds flying after the ship all day like flies in hot weather following everywhere. Some were as large as geese. They are called albatross. They are catching them with lines and have shot a great many.

12          Tuesday. No wind. I have been reading in the Book of Job about Leviathan. I never saw one until this morning. I saw it out of the water as big as this vessel. I never saw such things before. I have seen large fish but nothing compared with this one.

13           Wednesday. NE wind. Heavy rain and strong breeze. Rough. One ship in sight from London to Australia, 80 days out. We are 76.

14           Thursday. Little wind. Little progress. Rain all day. It is very uncomfortable here when it rains. All stop in such a small place and they are playing cards from morning till night. One chap won £5:12s once and in three days he lost it and £3 as well.

15           Friday. Very rough and heavy rain. Fair. 10 knots. The sea is sometimes as high as the top of the mast.

16           Saturday. Fine day. Little wind. The sea is rough since yesterday. The vessel rolled very much with the swell.

17           Sunday. Fine day. Little wind contrary to our progress. We have spent the day as usual. Service 10 o’clock.

18           Monday. The roughest day we have had since we started. Wind and rain in torrents until 12 at night. The wind dropped then. This little place was full all day (with people) playing cards and it was my day to get out the week’s provisions – flour, bread, tea, coffee, sugar, rice, mustard, pepper, vinegar. The ship shook until some fell down and lost all their treacle. We have a great many things to come in – beef, pork, suet, salt and etc. I had a rough day to get all these in.

19           Tuesday. Fine day. Going 6 to 7 knots. We have our beds drying today after yesterday. We had a rough night last night. Few went to bed but I went the same time – 8 o’clock every night and there are from 15 to 20 alongside my bed playing cards every night and all shouting as hard as ever they could. Now I am used to them I sleep directly. They don’t give over until 12 o’clock, then some of them will sing until 2 or 3 (Blagarnunnhu). We had the heaviest rain that I ever saw, not like rain but like a river coming down. The vessel is rolling very much, too bad to write.

20           Wednesday. SW wind. Hard breeze. 9 to 10 knots, 8½ knots for 24 hours which will make 200 miles. It is 11 weeks since we left Liverpool, a long time to be in such a place as this. Although I like everything better than the people. Many of them would kill a man for a few shillings. I believe that I am 15 lb. heavier this last month and as healthy as ever eating a large soup-plate of oatmeal porridge with treacle first thing every morning and it is healthy too.