17 June 1859

17th. This was a fine morning but a dead calm. Friend Manners and me sitting together about six o'clock we saw a number of porpus pigs. After breakfast we were ordered on deck and the Captain asked permission to make a general search in order to discover the whereabouts of a thief who was said to have broken open a box and stolen a quantity of wearing apparel, the property of a fellow passenger. A due search was made but no traces were found either of the missing articles or the arram thief. This evening all the dancers seemed wild for dancing. It was carried on for about an hour in an uproarious manner and commingling of stamps, yells and shouts were exhibited in a very boisterous manner by both the passengers and the crew to the grief and disgust of every sober thinking mind.

Booth, Thomas. Papers, 1857 - 1859. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 2002/56.