Lot 92
India & South Africa †
Manuscript journal of a sea voyage from Calcutta to Lorient
Auction: Other Properties | Wed 25 February from 10am | Lots 63 to 255
Description
Journal of a voyage from Calcutta (Kolkatta, India) to L’Orient (Lorient, Brittany) in the ship Notre Dame du [Mont?] Carmel, under the command of Capitaine Termillier(?), from January to June 1786, 15 unbound leaves folded to create [60] folio pages (32 x 20cm), an anonymous journal written in neat italic hand, leaves are soiled, damp-stained, torn and creased at edges, but text still legible;
recording a journey from Calcutta starting on 25th January, the author having spent 13 years living and working in Calcutta, largely consisting of observations on the weather and winds, the course of the ship, the occasional discomforts of a long journey by sea, encounters with other ships en route, all of which would indicate that the author was an experienced seaman; including details of:
boarding the Notre Dame on 29th January, arrival of other passengers, including Mr and Mrs Petrie (probably John Petrie (1742?-1826), Scottish merchant and East India Company official who officially retired from the Company in 1788 but went on furlough in 1786), dropping anchor in strong winds at Cape of Good Hope on 31st March, visiting Cape Colony, then under Dutch control, on 2nd April, including the settlement and vineyard of Constantia, an arduous climb, along with some of the other male passengers, up Table Mountain, the continuation of the journey to France on 10th April, a view of the island of St. Helena on 23rd-24th April, arrival at Lorient on 19th June