“Up at 8 this morning & prepared our luggage for landing. Mr Tate & the Guv’nor arrived at 10.30 & soon we had all our cabin stock on board a small sailing yacht & landed at Sandridge Pier at 12 where we were soon spotted by a buggyman, who seemed very sharp fellows & anxious for a job (no growlers mind.) We engaged both one for the luggage & the other for ourselves & then took to the road through Richmond to our little cottage which was already for us thanks to our kind friend Mr Tate.

PS

This diary is a true collection of the facts occurring during our voyage from London to Melbourne & with the exception of a few yarns here & there (easily to be detected) you may believe all to be the strict truth & I hope that those kind friends who have read this far may not be tired of it, as it was written solely to show that I had not forgotten any of my old friends in England. The following is an account of our arrival copied from the Melbourne paper ‘The Argos’

The Hesperides

“The Hesperides which has arrived from London is a fine looking iron clipper ship of the modern school and is now only on her fourth voyage her first two ventures having been to Adelaide and the third to India. She is commanded by Captain Upton who was last in the China service in the clipper Pak Wan and of the voyage he reports leaving London on the September 28^th and passing Start Point on October 4^th Strong southerly winds and south westerly gales with very tempestuous weather beset the ship as far as Cape Finisterrre, whence light airs and variables followed to latitude 25 N. The northeast trades were also light and the equator was not crossed until the 6^th November at Longitude 29W. The southeast trades proved light also and Tristan d’Acunha was passed 23^rd November two days after in Latitude 42 10”S and Longitude 3 19”W. The ship was in the vicinity of a huge iceberg. It is a rare circumstance for ice to be met with in such low latitudes and it is to be hoped that no disaster will occur on its presence there.  The meridian of the Cape of Good Hope was crossed 29^th November in Latitude 44S and that of Cape Leewin on December 21^st.  The easting was also run down in the parallel of 44 with moderate winds chiefly north and a great deal of wet disagreeable weather. The Hesperides entered Port Philip Head on Saturday morning 90 days from London or 84 from Start Point.”

Arrived in Melbourne 28^th December 1878

Landed at Sandridge Pier 30^th December

A.S.A.Whelen

Final extract from A.Whelen’s Australia travel journal aboard the iron clipper “Hesperides” sailing from England to Melbourne in 1878

“All excitement today looking out for the first land we shall sight since we saw the Isle of Wight. Fine morning with the exception of a shower of rain for a short time. At 12 we had 50 miles to go to get to Cape Otway. The first mate & captain were on the lookout for land all the afternoon & I made several voyages to the masthead to look out for it, but it was first seen by the first mate although after it was sighted I could see by the outline that I had seen it from the mast about three quarters of an hour before only I thought that they would laugh at me if I cried out land ahead. The first that was clearly seen of it was at 4.30 & glad we were of it I can tell you. We kept in sight of the land & all the sheep & fields etc all the night which we could see very well by the lights on the shore. The first land that we sighted was Moonlight Head.

We soon passed the Cape Otway Light which was extraordinarily brilliant. We were not in time for a pilot there so we went on very slowly till 2.30am when we hove to till a pilot came on board. Most of the sails are taken in so we can only do very little during the night & we shall be at the entrance of Port Philip Bay by the morning.

The sea is still very rough & having so few sails up makes us roll fearfully. We had a good many pulls at the ropes this evening to which they sang Whiskey for his Johnny & Poor Old Man etc. During the afternoon Joey was amusing himself by making earthquake & apple pie beds, sewing up nightshirts etc which of course he will be punished tonight. Bed at 11.15 for the last time on board I hope.”

Extract from A.Whelen’s Australia travel journal aboard the iron clipper “Hesperides” sailing from England to Melbourne in 1878

“We have today the longest day same as you have the shortest one. Some of the largest waves we have had during the whole voyage have been on deck this morning while at tea with the door open, a tremendous wave came over & washed into our parlour upsetting our select circle. Tea cups & saucers fell over and our cake was found floating round the room. Of course our house on deck suffered as usual, but that makes little difference now as we are used to it. The nuisance is to bale it out before we can continue our tea. Anyone wishing for a fine view of the ocean cannot do better than take a ticket for Melbourne instead of Brighton where the sea is always calm to what it is here.

We are now off Cape Leewin at the extreme W. of Australia but are too far out to see land – 300 miles from the shore. If this breeze continues we expect to arrive next Saturday. 10 knots an hour all day but this evening they have taken in all sails but 7 and a half (3 being reefed.) The wind is very high. 2 or 3 waves have just been knocking at our door reminding us that it is time for bed. So goodnight 10.30”

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