“Arthur was up at 6 to begin fishing early but after 9 hours of it he gave it up as a bad job, thinking he was either a bad hand at it or that the fish were precious artful. It has been awfully hot all day again today & scarcely any wind. For breakfast we has stew, bread & jam & tea. For dinner pea soup, salt pork which was like old leather & pudding. For tea bread, jam & grain oil (butter in its liquid state through the heat) For supper bread & cheese.

We have been doing about 5 knots an hour all day with a fair wind (NE). I find on looking in the glass that I am getting very brown and the same applies to all the others. Cold bath & bed at 11.30.”

Extract from A.Whelen’s travel journal sailing from England to Australia aboard the Hesperides in 1878