Although on the introductory page of this journal, the writer purports to be aboard H.M.S. Samarang, the course, descriptions and events that he reports suggest that he was in fact serving on H.M.S. Rapid, a 10-gun brig sloop of the Cherokee class and the first command of her captain, Charles Henry Swinburne. The crew of H.M.S. Rapid claimed to be the first to witness the creation of Graham Island, 27 miles from Sicily. The author wrote: 21^st July 1831: ..a cloud of smoke..clouds of flames and cinder accompanied by a thick black..were thrown up with great strength. Closer to Europe than Malta, Graham Island was the perfect location to control commercial and military sea traffic in the major Mediterranean shipping lanes. As a consequence of this unique position and advantageous position, Britain, France and Sicily all laid claim to it. The conflict was resolved five months later, when the island sank back beneath the waves.