“Up at 7 & did nothing but read & play cards all day. An average of 8 knots all day today. Had some songs in the evening & to bed at 11.

This afternoon we were less than 300 miles off the Brazilian coast & saw a few land birds which are sometimes seen at considerable distances from the shore but did not have a chance of catching any.”

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