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Wednesday 20th – Fine all day with bright
sunshine, and a nice breeze from the N.W.
The evening was particularly bright and clear,
the nearly full moon, shining in gorgeous splend-
our. Standing on the forecastle gazing at the
bright orb with an unusual degree of pleasure
my thoughts darted home, and I fancied that
my own dearest[1] might at the same moment
be gazing at the same object rising above
the eastern horizon (although high in our
sky, she must be near the horizon in Britain
because our time is 3 hours before Greenwich.)
The ship is going on nicely with all sails set at 10 P.M.
Saw a few of these beautiful birds called cape
pigeons by the sailors, they have black beaks and
all the back black, with the exception of two white
[page]
spots on each wing & white belly. Some albatross
and two or three other kinds of birds are still
seen. Saw a bundle of seaweed floating near
today can’t be far from [Coxel?] / Crozet\ Islands.
STANDARDISED
Wednesday 20th
Fine all day with bright sunshine, and a nice breeze from the northwest. The evening was particularly bright and clear, the nearly full moon, shining in gorgeous splendour. Standing on the forecastle gazing at the bright orb with an unusual degree of pleasure my thoughts darted home, and I fancied that my own dearest might at the same moment be gazing at the same object rising above the eastern horizon (although high in our sky, she must be near the horizon in Britain because our time is 3 hours before Greenwich.) The ship is going on nicely with all sails set at 10pm. Saw a few of these beautiful birds called cape pigeons by the sailors, they have black beaks and all the back black, with the exception of two white spots on each wing and white belly. Some albatross and two or three other kinds of birds are still seen. Saw a bundle of seaweed floating near today, can’t be far from Crozet Islands.
HENRY SCHOFIELD DIARY
Jan[uar]y 20th fine cold
Got a new set of sails on, the others having been riven to ribbons. Reading Cassels paper. Bought pocket knife & pipe items 1/- of Tom Earnshaw[2]. 10 knots per hour. Tom had toothache very bad. I got provisions for him. Passed the Crozet Islands 45 Lat 46 deg Long. Dinner boulli. I gave Joe Peters[3] some brandy he was not very well.
Notes
1. Jessie Niven, Thomas’s wife who had stayed behind in Scotland.
2. Thomas Earnshaw (18) was travelling with his family, who had paid their own way in steerage.
3. Joseph Peters was one of the crew, an Able Seaman, and had previously served aboard the Star of China. He was 23 and from Cape Verde.
Cape Petrel (Daption capense australe), also known as Cape pigeon, East of the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia. 1 Sep 2012: JJ Harrison, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
