A journal kept onboard the ship Asia of Havre during a whaling voyage to the coast of Patigonia and elsewhere : manuscript
- Description
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Manuscript log kept by Reuben Russell, the master of a Nantucket whaling ship that traveled from Le Havre, France through Patagonia to Tongoy, Chile over the course of almost two years beginning on July 7, 1829.
Reuben Russell was born to a prominent Nantucket whaling family in 1799, and in addition to the present expedition served as master on several whaling voyages including that of the Pioneer five years later, and of the Susan from 1841 to 1846. In the present log, Russell signs his name, "R. Russell," at the conclusion of the last of his daily entries. He records striking sixty-one whales and successfully killing thirty-three over the course of the Asia's journey, which took him and his crew from France, down the Atlantic, over to South America, through the Falkland Islands, around Cape Horn, up the coast of Chile, and back again.
The log book records daily entries over the course of almost two years, with detailed information regarding the places visited, the ship's position, the winds and weather, and various other vessels encountered along the way, including the Henry of Sag Harbor, the Globe Mary of Nantucket, the Enterprise, the Cadmus, the Susan & Sarah of Halifax, and numerous others. Russell lays in a list of "Ships spoken with" and records when and how many whales said ships report. On July 26, Russell and the Asia passed the island of Madeira off the coast of Portugal, before seeing their first "school of sperm whales" on August 2 (they were not successful in killing any yet). Four days later, they reached the Island of Mayo [Maio] off the northwestern coast of Africa, the shoreline of which Russell sketches in the log. They continued almost dead west across the South Atlantic towards South America, seeing "flocks of small birds, blackfish and sunfish" on August 23 before passing the island of Trinidad on August 31; Russell also sketches the coastline of Trinidad from "ten or twelve leagues distance." On September 17, Russell had to put two sailors "in irons for fighting and disobeying orders." The ship finally scores its first "write" [right] whale on September 27 in the South Atlantic, just off the coast of northern Argentina according to the coordinates recorded by Russell. The Asia kills and processes a total of eight whales in this general area of the South Atlantic before sailing to the Falkland Islands in January, 1830. At the Falklands, eleven additional whales were taken. While there, Russell also sketches coastlines of an island in the Jasons and also at East Point, and provides a detailed coastline map featuring Marville Bay (around the northern end of Berkeley Sound) in his entry for February 23. The Asia then heads around Cape Horn for Chile. The crew landed one whale off the coast of southern Chile on May 16 before heading for the whale-rich waters off the coast of Tongoy, where they spent the summer hunting sperm whales. Between June 13 and August 24, the crew of the Asia rammed twelve and successfully killed and processed seven whales in Tongoy Bay in north-central Chile. They then went to Coquimbo, Chile, where they killed another whale on September 18. In the entry for this day, Russell has drawn another coastline map, this time featuring Coquimbo. At this point, the Asia turned for home. They spent October and November sailing back around Cape Horn to the Argentine Sea. Between December 2, 1830 and January 21, 1831, Russell and the Asia recorded eight and killed five whales along the "Main Banks" of Argentina. On January 19, Russell again sketched a coastline scene of the "Jasons leaving South: 10 Leagues." On Sunday, May 1, 1831, Russell writes his final entry of the log, commenting that he and his crew are "in good health and safe return with a full cargo of oil....I finish the voyage onboard the ship Asia after an absence of 21 months & 23 days from Havre and have obtained 2700 lbs of oil 2000 pounds of whale bone. Yours most obdt. R. Russell." Following the daily entries is a two-page chart titled, "A list of whales taken by Ship Asia During a voyage to the Pacific Ocean Commenced Sept. 27 1829." The listing also enumerates the date, the position of the ship when the whales were encountered, whether or not the whale was taken or lost (and the reasons why they were lost), how many pounds of oil were extracted from each whale, and the name of the crew member who struck the whale. On the following page, Russell lists the number of casks of oil produced from each whale as well as the weight of total oil in the casks. The last page of text holds a few entries by Russell related to the functioning of his chronometer, which he calibrates at Trinidad and the Falkland Islands.
An outstanding feature of the log book are three detailed, full-page manuscript maps Russell executed at the rear of the book. The first map features "Talcahuano Port", Chile, in the Biobío region about 600 miles south of Tongoy Bay. The map pictures and identifies the Port of St. Vincent, the port cities of Tomé and Concepción, the island of Quiriquina, and the BioBio River, along with topographical features such as forests and a "watering place" on the peninsula. The second of Russell's maps shows "East Falkland," the largest island in the Falklands. The coastline map features East Falkland from the Cape of Phillip, north past Berkeley Sound, Eagle Point, and westward around the coastline to Marville Bay. A fort and town are shown at Eagle Point, which may represent the modern-day location of Johnson's Harbour. The third and final manuscript map is titled, "Chile." The map is south-oriented, running from Tongoy Bay at the top of the page down to the "Bird Islands" off the coast of Coquimbo. The town of Coquimbo is shown on the coastline, along with "Horse shoe Bay" and "North Bay."
- Creation Date
- 1829 July 7-1831 May 1
- Creator
- Physical Description
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1 journal (186 pages) : illustrations (drawings), maps ; 34 cm
- Material Details
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text
- Note
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Binding: Period leather-backed paste-paper boards
Illustrated with coastline maps, drawings of ships, and about 120 whale stamps
Manuscript ship log book in English
Title from first page of volume
- Geographics
- Corporate Name
- Personal Name
- Topics
Format
View formats within this collection
- Language
- English
- Series
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Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages
- Copyright
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Public domain (US)
Use: This work is available from the UC San Diego Library. This digital copy of the work is intended to support research, teaching, and private study.
Constraint(s) on Use: This work may be used without prior permission.
- Digital Object Made Available By
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Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0175 (https://lib.ucsd.edu/sca)
- Last Modified
2020-11-02