“Not a very comfortable night again as they are shifting the sails continually in order to catch what wind there is. During the day the wind was very contrary. A great event on board today. Sonit has had 3 kittens (2 of which have since died). Joey finds it so cold in the night that he has cut up one of his sheets to make a curtain of. Made our beds again, not before they wanted it I can assure you. 2 ships in sight this afternoon. ‘The Windsor Castle’ of Glasgow from London to Sydney 50 days out, but she started the Tuesday before us so you can see how truthful they are. We did not get the name of the other. I must now tell you, that I have been learning all the signal flags & that for the last week or so I have done all the signalling. You will see by the front page what our flags are & the rest are all composed of the colours: white yellow blue & red. This is a very nice little pastime & has made me quite happy having some work to do. We saw a large whale this morning & Joey at last has succeeded in catching a “Cape Pigeon” (a species of Albatross of which there are a tidy lot)

Bed at 9.30 & read till 11.30”

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