Details
[SHIP'S LOG]
Manuscript captain's log, from three vessels: HMS Vestal, HMS Iwogeme, and HMS President, Halifax, Barbados, Grenada, Columbia, various ports in the West Indies, Peru, Rio de Janeiro, and England, 1835 through 1842. 69 pages with 8 amateur watercolors of ports of call, 7 1/2 x 12 inches, marbled boards. Some pages loose, manuscript clean and fresh.
The manuscript consists of sailing directions, coordinates, winds and weather, but of more signficance are the remarks which are extensive, and comprise an incisive first hand account of dramatic events as they unfolded. The HMS President, for instance spent considerable time at Callaw Bay, Peru -- July 1838: "The Chilean Squadron stood in & engaged the Forts ... there was heavy firing from the forts from 2 to 3 am. The Ferndando Brig was also boarded but grounded under the North fort .. became a total wreck." From Jan 1839: "Chilean squadron fired a salute of 21 guns, the army having defeated the Peruvians under Santa Cruz." The harsh discipline of the English navy is everywhere apparent. It's a weekly occurance that one officer or another is placed under arrest for what might be considered a minor infraction. March 1839: "The soldiers in the Forts mutinied the officers ran down to the mote and jumped into the Pinnace the mutineers infuriated fired on them notwithstanding the English colors were flying, but owing to the confusion and bad order and never having been to general quarters, the Pinnace was out of musket shot before a gun could be loaded ... Gen Moran with 53 officers of all ranks took refuge on board. The Chileans took possession of the castles." An important first-hand historical account.
Manuscript captain's log, from three vessels: HMS Vestal, HMS Iwogeme, and HMS President, Halifax, Barbados, Grenada, Columbia, various ports in the West Indies, Peru, Rio de Janeiro, and England, 1835 through 1842. 69 pages with 8 amateur watercolors of ports of call, 7 1/2 x 12 inches, marbled boards. Some pages loose, manuscript clean and fresh.
The manuscript consists of sailing directions, coordinates, winds and weather, but of more signficance are the remarks which are extensive, and comprise an incisive first hand account of dramatic events as they unfolded. The HMS President, for instance spent considerable time at Callaw Bay, Peru -- July 1838: "The Chilean Squadron stood in & engaged the Forts ... there was heavy firing from the forts from 2 to 3 am. The Ferndando Brig was also boarded but grounded under the North fort .. became a total wreck." From Jan 1839: "Chilean squadron fired a salute of 21 guns, the army having defeated the Peruvians under Santa Cruz." The harsh discipline of the English navy is everywhere apparent. It's a weekly occurance that one officer or another is placed under arrest for what might be considered a minor infraction. March 1839: "The soldiers in the Forts mutinied the officers ran down to the mote and jumped into the Pinnace the mutineers infuriated fired on them notwithstanding the English colors were flying, but owing to the confusion and bad order and never having been to general quarters, the Pinnace was out of musket shot before a gun could be loaded ... Gen Moran with 53 officers of all ranks took refuge on board. The Chileans took possession of the castles." An important first-hand historical account.