25 July 1859

July 25th. A very find morning with a nice breeze. A calm sea and a
clear atmosphere with the easy riding of the ship as all contributed
to render this a pleasant day. A number of flying fish was seen this
morning. They are nearly like small herring.

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

8 July 1859

July 8. Saw two sharks. Subscription for games which was competed for by the sailors and cockfighting, picking potatoes, ducking for money etc.

Campbell, Alexander. Letters and papers, 1859 - 1870. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 50.

8th. A fine morning but a head wind but some of us are glad of a wind from any quarter to moderate the heat of this oppressive climate. A large number of flying fish were seen very near us and some young porpuses came under the fore bows of the ship. Some attempt was made to harpoon them and it is said that one was struck but not deep enough to hold it. By fine moonlight tonight a sail appeared at about a mile distance. Here although hot weather and day and night nearly equal, the moon and stars shine as bright as if it was winter. Four particular stars invisible in England have just come to view. Their appearance is nearly in the shape of a diamond and are called the Southern Cross. These appear in the lower part of the Southern Hemisphere.

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

2 July 1859

July 2. Ship making little progress. Weather excessive hot. We often observed great numbers of flying fish - they resemble a herring but have wings and fly especially when pursued by the “Bonito” a fish as large as a grilse a few yards above the water like birds. One flew on the deck and was caught by one of the sailors who cooked it for his lunch.

Campbell, Alexander. Letters and papers, 1859 - 1870. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 50

July 2nd. A splendid morning with a nice cooling breeze which feels very agreeable as we turn out from our berths. Sometime about midnight some disturbance arose between the captain and his men, it is said of a very disgraceful character. This region is noted on account of calms that prevail between the expiration of the North East and the beginning of the South East trade winds which sometimes detain ships for a week or two. Last week I forgot to note the captain's abuse to the chief mate. He is a quarreling fiend always serpent like, curling up and hissing and spitting his venom at someone. The breeze awoke up after sunset and at bedtime we were going at a cheerful rate.

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

30 June 1859

30th. A fine morning and a good breeze. About six this morning a flying fish was caught somewhere on deck.

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

27 June 1859

June 27. Got into NW trade winds. Weather fine. At night there was dancing on the poop. The Captain with a lady led off in a jig.

Campbell, Alexander. Letters and papers, 1859 - 1870. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 50.  

27th. A very fine morning but we are not getting on very fast. The air is sultry but a few drops of rain has made it better and in the afternoon about 4 o'clock, a fresh breeze filled our sails and our gallant ship bounded over the foam crested billows at a cheerful rate and as we were expected to catch the North East trade winds we receive this as an agreeable sample (these winds are said to blow one way for some time without changing much). We have seen a small tortoise and some flying fish. These are about the size of a common herring but seldom fly very far at once.

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