“Nothing is certain in life, they say but death & quarter day & I think it very uncertain whether we get to our destination by the end of the year. We cannot get there at all if we do not get along a bit quicker than now.

We are now in Lat 43 30”S & Long 40 15”E & we get plenty of rolling for our money. Joey managed to ker-smash our lamp tonight but with a little string we have managed to tie the pieces together”

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