Journey Jottings

“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 journal aboard the Hesperides sailing from England to Australia 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 journal aboard the Hesperides sailing from England to Australia 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 journal aboard the Hesperides sailing from England to Australia in 1878

“This is now our 11^th Sunday on board & no doubt you are expecting to hear from us soon or at least through the paper of our safe arrival. We are now near the Crozet Isles where the Strathmore was wrecked in 1876.

Crozet Islands

In marking off the chart last night the Captain got the cabin boy to hold a candle which he did & let a drop of grease fall on the map, when the Captain called out to man the boats as we had struck on a shallow bank. You may believe this or not as it best please you.

Penguin Isle, Crozet Group

The breeze freshened at 11 this morning (before then there only a little wind & plenty of rain) & we have been doing 11 knots an hour ever since. Joey has been paying the cook a visit & he says that he used to keep a hotel in Japan & made a lot of money by it, which he retired on & kept his strap & all complete in Essex but lost it all through the failure of a bank some time back & has had to follow up his old trade ever since. Joey thinks that the cook’s only fault is putting too much pepper into the soup but he makes things well & just to my liking.”

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

“Just one month till Xmas day arrives. I wonder whether we shall be at our destination by then. Mr Wilson says that while in bed last night he felt us strike on something, but we think it must have been a straynge moonbeam. Had a fair wind all day & have done at times 13 knots an hour. We have fairly caught the trade-winds now & are moving along fine style.

Today we are in lat 42S & long 3½W & shall have the same time of day as at Greenwich tomorrow & then afterwards we shall gain something every day to make up the 10hours advance time of Melbourne.

At 11.30 today we saw the most interesting sight we have seen yet.

An iceberg of tremendous dimension appeared almost directly ahead of us about 10 miles off we suppose. But it is impossible to form any idea of distance as you must know the height of them to calculate the distance. The captain & the 1^st mate think it was about 12 miles broad and about 30 miles long while they estimate the height of it at about 3000 feet. We now begin to think Mr Wilson was right in what he said for the mate says it may have been a small piece of detached ice that touched us. We must thank our stars we did not meet it during the night or you would not have had a chance of reading this account for we should have gone down sharp I feel sure. The 1^st mate, who has seen more of these than any on board says it is the largest one he has ever seen. It looked very much like an island covered in snow & as we may find some more orders have been given to keep a man on the lookout for them. The breeze is now freshening so that they have reefed the rudder and thrown the main deck overboard so as to prepare for a rough night. Bed at 9pm”

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

“A grand sea on today; one moment we are in a valley & the next on a mountain. It is also considerably colder now. Our friend was quite near us this morning & we found by looking through the glass that she had got a lot of horses on board. Yesterday afternoon Ada had a fit of some sort or another (I suppose through the change in the weather) & is now in her bunk not feeling over bright. Daisy is helping Sails while the guv’nor is lying down for a rest, Clara & Brown are doing a little in the spooning line & I am enjoying myself by watching Joey write his diary from my bunk. Of course not much can be done but play cards etc of which luckily we have a small stock as we brought our box of games with us. After a smoke we turned in at 10.

We saw the southern cross to-night for the first time but it is nothing grand.”

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

“Fishing all the morning for Joey. Salt junk for dinner; the cook says eating this is very much like kissing one’s sister, very tame work & not much flavour. Today they had the donkey-engine alight to make some fresh water, as that which was remaining was very rusty. One poor fellow last voyage came out all over in ironmoulds so they say but I did not see it so can scarcely credit it. I will now give you my experience of crossing the line.

Last night Father Neptune appeared over the bows of the ship carrying a blue light & after hailing the ship & asking if we should be ready to receive him today & the answer being given in the affirmative he went away. At 12 to day we received a severe shock as we had run against the line & directly after Father Neptune appeared carrying a trident with a red herring on the top. He was accompanied by his officers & wife. First they unshipped the cannon & drew him around the ship, then they went & shook hands with the captain, after which he seated himself on the throne which was the carpenters bench elevated about 10ft above the deck & elaborately decorated with bunting & etc. He then got a list of the names of all on board & said he perceived that Mr Brown had not crossed the line before & must therefore be initiated into the mysteries thereof. First they lathered his face with a solution of dirty water, the contents of the pigsty etc & then they asked him where he came from & as soon as he opened his mouth to answer, in went the brush of lather; then he was shaved with a piece of rusty iron, from one of the casks (about 4ft long). After this he had to take a pill composed of pepper, mustard, salt etc & then gave him a gentle push into a large sail full of salt water (abt 4ft deep) where some of Neptune’s officers were ready to duck him. This finished the first victim & they were about to do the rest of us, when I awoke & the above must only have been a dream as we crossed the line soon after dinner & there was no spree at all as the Captain would not allow it there having nearly been blood shed last voyage as one of the men would not be scraped & took out his knife to prevent them but all was useless he was ducked worse than ever.

In the evening Joey & I paid a visit to the apprentices & had some bottled ale to celebrate the event & went to bed at 12.30am”

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

“Up at 8 after a good night & the sea is now fine & quiet but at 1pm more wind train came on. As it is likely to prove a soaker for the rest of the day I will endeavour to give you a few particulars concerning the ship…

The Hesperides was built in March 1875 & is now chartered by Messrs Taylor, Bethell & Roberts. She is 1338 tons register A1 at Lloyds cost 23,000 pounds & thus far they have written 3,000 pounds off. Last voyage on the road home from China she met with a hurricane off Zanzibar & had every mast & all her rigging carried overboard which cost the company 7,000 pounds for repairs. At this time she had 630 coolies on board for Demerara & abt 50 sailors making in all nearly 700 souls. The former had a fine time of it as they were battened down for 4 days. She is now in fine condition & is on her fourth voyage.

Hesperides

Besides the Captain we have 3 mates, 3 apprentices, carpenter, engineer, cook, steward and boy, sailmaker and boatswain. We have 13 sailors and a 1 shilling a month man who only is working his way out, an ex- captain of the company who has lost 2 vessels for them and the stowaway named Elvin who was found in the hold soon after the tug leaving us. He is an engineer by trade but finding business so bad determined to return here where he had been for 4 or 5 years before. Our captain’s name is Upton and seems to be very decent fellow and a thorough Englishman I should think as he has 432 bottles of beer on board for his own private use and seems as if he enjoyed his pipe.

The cook is a very jolly old fellow & has made us all as comfortable as it is possible for anybody to be on board.

Our 2 first class companions are named Wilson & Kelk. Wilson has done very little work during his lifetime from what he says. He has studied some little in the medical line but is rather gone in the upper part of his head. Kelk is called by the sailors the walking corpse. He is very delicate & will not last very long I am afraid. Both of these gentlemen are suffering from nervous debility. Our 2^nd class confederates are 2 young fellows by names Allman & Baldcock (known amongst us as Smith & Brown.) Both have broken blood vessels & have come out here for health’s sake principally. Then there is my old schoolfellow Arthur F. Mundy (known as Joe on board after Pickwick, having grown so fat) who is the life of us all being always with us, having meals altogether; he says he is in a consumption but if you were to see the consumption of food by him it would be quite sufficient. Besides these there is our own little circle of 6*. (*Mr Whelen the Guv’nor, Mrs Whelen, Mr A. Whelen, the writer of the journal & 3 girls Miss C., Miss A & Miss D.Whelen ~ Clara, Ada & Daisy, known as little Dux)

This now finishes our two legged friends & we will now turn to the four-footed. We have 3 cats Peter, Sonit & Carrots which belongs to the cook. The poultry does not come to our lot as it is destined for the 1^st class. Then there are 2 sheep & 3 pigs and with the exception of a few cockroaches this closes the chapter.

As we go along I notice that we lose on average 10 minutes a day which we shall continue to do till we are in abt lat 40 S.

Today is Clara’s birthday but not all of them being well it will be postponed a day or so.

The cook threw his cat overboard this morning for a fair wind & I hope now that they at last come. Bed 10.30 fine night”

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

Image of  Hesperides: State Library of Victoria

“Up at 8 after 13 hours sleep & feel all the worse for it. Had salt junk for breakfast & fancy it will be a job to keep it down all day. Arthur bought some tobacco today (blk jack 3/- lb Virginia 3/6 lb) & amused himself puffing it up whilst I was at my stamps as usual; none of the ladies are visible.

We are now skirting the bay of Biscay & I am glad that we are not in the middle of it as there is quite enough rolling as it is. All out in the evening enjoying ourselves with songs on the after deck. Today being our second stock day I will give you a list of the stores that come to our share per person & per week.”

Biscuits 3 1/2lbs                                       Raw Sugar ¾ lb

Beef 1lb                                                         Wht Sugar ¼ lb

Pork 1 lb                                                       Cheese ½ lb

Preserved Meat 1 lb                                 Butter ½ lb

Soup & Bouilli 1 lb                                     Pickles ½ pot

Flour 4 lbs                                                    Vinegar ¼ pot

Peas ½ lb                                                      Salt 2oz

Rice 1 lb                                                         Pepper ¼ oz

Oatmeal 1/2lb                                             Mustard ½ oz

Preserved Potatoes ½ lb                       Treacle ½ lb

Salt Fish ¼ lb                                              Limejuice 6oz

Jam ¼ lb                                                       Barley ½ lb

Raisins ½ lb                                                 Currants ½ lb

Suet ½ lb                                                       Preserved Milk ½ pint

Tea 2oz                                                           Carrots ½ lb

Coffee 4 oz                                                    Onions ½ lb

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

I have come across a hand written journal written by a Mr ASA Whelen, a second-class passenger aboard the iron clipper Hesperides that departed London 27^th September 1878 for Australia, arriving in Melbourne 93 days later on 28^th December 1878.

The account of the voyage is simple in its telling with often only short entries recounting his meals, tales of card playing, and what time he went to bed. But interspersed with the daily mundanity of occupying oneself for 93 days in the confines of “our not too spacious bedroom (12ft x 6ft) to hold 3 by the bye (the Guv’nor, Arthur and myself)”,  I’ve found it a fascinating insight into travel at the end of the nineteenth century – a journey that took the writer to the other side of the world from the temperate climes of England across the stifling equatorial tropics and down into the depths of the roaring forties where they came into close contact with an iceberg.

The joy of a journal transcends time

so over the coming weeks I thought I’d share and reproduce extracts retelling this travelling tale as it occurred 131 years ago.