14 December 1863

Thomas Keir diary - 14 December 1863 entry [National Library Micro-MS-0837]

Monday 14th – At 3 A.M. the ship
was caught in a squal, it blew hard &
rained in torrents, the flaping of the sails
and the shouting of the men reefing them
awoke me, and the rain was pouring down
the hatch in torrents, it came in so
sudden that there was no time for
shutting the skylights. however it was
of short duration, and the only signs in
the morning was the druping sails
the sky is overcast and /a\ long roll on

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the sea. Saw a shoal of whales on the
starboard side, sporting about in, and
spouting up the water, saw also a large
shoal of porpoise, one of the sailors suc-
ceed in striking one, but in the struggling
succeeded in getting off the harpoon.
Exchanged signals with the “Warwick-
shire” one hundred & twenty days from
Hong Kong bound for Liverpool. Our latitude
at noon was 6°20’ North. Made very little pro-
gress during the day. 10 P.M. the sky
has brightened up and the night is fine.

STANDARDISED

Monday 14th December

At 3am the ship was caught in a squall, it blew hard and rained in torrents, the flapping of the sails and the shouting of the men reefing them awoke me, and the rain was pouring down the hatch in torrents. It came in so sudden that there was no time for shutting the skylights. However it was of short duration, and the only signs in the morning were the drooping sails. The sky is overcast and a long roll on the sea.

Saw a shoal of whales on the starboard side, sporting about in, and spouting up the water. Saw also a large shoal of porpoise, one of the sailors succeeded in striking one, but in the struggling succeeded in getting off the harpoon. Exchanged signals with the “Warwickshire” one hundred and twenty days from Hong Kong bound for Liverpool. Our latitude at noon was 6°20’ North. Made very little progress during the day. 10pm the sky has brightened up and the night is fine.

HENRY SCHOFIELD DIARY

14th dull

This morning we had a heavy squall with thunder & lightening ripping the sails into ribbons. Saw a great shoal of porpoises and grampuses, harpooned a porpoise, saw a lot of sperm whales. Spoke the ship Worstershire from Hong Kong China, 120 days out for Liverpool. I had a row with 2nd mate[1] for throwing water on to me. 5 knots per hour. Joe was not very well. For dinner spice pudding & pea soup.