| JULY 1838 | |
| 17 |
The Rajasthan sailed from St. Katherine's Dock, London, about 8 a.m. on Thursday, 17 July 1838, and during the next ten days she made a leisurely, even if at times somewhat uncomfortable, voyage down to Plymouth, anchoring at many places on the way - Blackwall: 3 days - Gravesend: 2 days - Gads Hill "where a monument is erected to Falstaff" - and the Downs: 15 hours. |
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The three days from the Downs to Plymouth, sailing through the Straits of Dover and the English Channel, gave the passengers a taste of things to come. During this time William noted passing Dover Castle and Hastings, and being off the Isle of White (sic), Normandy, the coast of Devonshire and Dartmouth. Interspersed among these entries were others such as: |
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Myself and family all very sick - Wife still very sick -All below very ill- and on Friday, 27 July, God help us from such another day as yesterday. |
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Twenty four hours after anchoring off Plymouth on July 27, William wrote: "A Sailor named Collins Died about 1-1/2 p.m. Poorfellow, I hope the Lord will Preserve his Soul." Next day "the Body of Poor Collins" was taken to Plymouth. |
| 31 |
At almost 1 p.m. the Rajasthan weighed anchor and sailed from Plymouth on the start of her 108-day voyage to Holdfast Bay. Two other ships left the same day, the Prince George, two or three hours earlier, also bound for South Australia, and the Falcon at the same time as the Rajasthan. |
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Adeu my Native Land Adeu. wrote William on that day. Was he perhaps then feeling some pangs of regret, or maybe just saying goodbye to his homeland and looking forward to his new life? |
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10-1 /2 P.M. saw the light at the Heddeston. |
| AUG. 1838 |
|
| 1 |
3 P.M. Saw the land off Cornwall for last time. 12 Noon - the Prince George ahead off us. |
| 2 |
Just thirty-seven hours later, at 2 a.m. on 2 August, when the ship was about 10 miles off the coast of Cornwall, "Charlotte was delivered of a fine Girl." She had a Bad time in Consequence of the roughnefs of the weather & the Motion of the Ship which was Dreadful. Thank God she got over it better than I expected. Women all Sick. No one to attend her. 3 p.m. Charlotte as well as can be expected under the Circumstances, Poor Soul...
Later, his last entries for the night were: "Charlotte all right thank God and the baby too." |
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During the next ten days he frequently made reference to Charlotte and their daughter, sometimes recording that they were "all right" or "much better', and at others that they were "middling", "as well as can be expected",or "not quite so well". |
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During the first week of August and these early days of the voyage, the weather and the sea were very rough, as other excerpts from the diary entries show: |
| 3 |
Have had a very rough night ... Nearly all sick except the sailors. |
| 4 |
Wind ahead of us. Ship making no way, scarsely through the waters |
| 5 |
Wind & Rain against us. 4 P.M. entering the Bay of Biscay. Sea very rough ... The Ship Knocking about dreadfully. 10 p.m. Still the same. The Capt. Broke 30 glafs [glasses] in the Cuddy. |
| 6 |
Sea very rough against us ... Oh this D-d Bay of Biscay for being so d-d rough. The sea tossing mountains high. |
| 7 |
11-1/2 P.M. nearly out of Bay of Biscay and the sea was not so rough -'Thank God", wrote William, "for its a beautiful moonlight night." |
| 8 |
A Stiff Breeze 7 or 8 an hour. The Capt Said we was off the Coast of Portugal |
| 9 |
A Slight Breeze in our favour from 7 to 9 an hour. Off the Coast of Spain. |
| 11 |
Charlotte was very poorly and the baby middling |
| 12 |
Saw the Island of Aporto Santo - Quite plain about 12 Miles off us. 2 P.M. off Madeira - "a beautiful looking place" wrote William. Charlotte went up on deck for an hour in the afternoon for the first time since her confinement and from then on she and the baby must have improved, as for some weeks there were no further mentions of their health. |
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Beautiful it may have looked, but the the ship's boat-party later tried to go ashore to get fruit. |
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They was not allowed to land. The Capt. was D--d wild with them. They got nothing. 2 guns was fired at them from the town. They came back on board again at 5 p.m ... The Capt. made off as soon as they came on board. |
| 14 |
6-1/2 P.M. Anchored Close in to Tenneriffe, the largest of the Canary Islands, a far more friendly place. |
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Remained there for four days. During this time a baby was born, |
| 16 | a child died. A report in the South Australian Record (p. 106, 10 Oct. 1838), reads: "DIED. On Aug. 16th, on board the Rajasthan, in Santa Creus Roads, the infant child of - Dunn, an emigrant." This would almost certainly have been the 5-month-old daughter of William and Helen Dunn, formerly of Berwickshire, Scotland. |
| 17 |
William Ashton recorded "The Child that died was taken on Shore by James Taply and Burned." [James Taply (Tapley) was one o1 a family of nine children on board with their parents Thomas and Mary Tapley, and during the voyage James, 20, was one of the ship's cooks.] |
| 18 |
A fine day. Weighed Anchor from Tenneriffe about 6 P.M. a Strong Breeze Sprung up, we went through the Waters beautiful - but rather rough. This was their last contact with land until two days under three months later when they arrived at Holdfast Bay. |
| 26 |
6 p.m. had our baby half baptised in the Cuddy by Mr. Harvey & Dr. Wilson by the name of Victoria Ritchie Rajasthan. The first being the name of our beloved young Queen, the next after the Capt. and the last to keep in mind of the Ship she was born in ... |
| 27 |
The child born at Tenneriffe was half baptised with mine yesterday & was named Tenneriffe. By the time the parents had reached Adelaide, however, they must have had second thoughts about the names they had chosen for their babies. Victoria Ritchie Rajasthan Ashton became, instead, Victoria Hannah Ritchie Ashton at her Baptism at Holy Trinity Church on 1 August 1839, and so far, no record has been found of a child of any of the passengers with the name 'Tenneriffe". |
| 28 |
5-1/2 a.m. Mr. Wright's child died and was Committed to the Deep at 5 p.m. Dr. Wilson & Mr. Harvey read the Church Service over the Body... |
| SEPT 1838 |
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| 3 |
A Smart Breeze driving us South East-about 160 Miles off the Coast of Africa.
12-1/2 P.M. Saw a Ship the Washington from Say harbour past us.
5 P. M. 2 Sails in Sight Could not tell what they where. |
| 4 |
Still going South East - I wish we where going West. |
| 8 |
7 A.M. Crost the Line. William made no mention of the usual ceremony, which was often held at this time of the voyage. 12 Noon about 9 Miles from the Line. |
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A fight took place between the black cook and the French cook about the Cuddy dinner. After fighting for some time they were parted by the sailors. The Black cook had the best of the fight. |
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the crew in particular were not happy about having policemen on board: "The sailors have a very great dislike to Stuart and me for sticking to the Capt." and "The sailors do not like the police being on board the ship." |
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William and the other policeman, James Stuart, were often called on by the Captain or Mr. Harvey, the Surgeon Superintendent, to settle disputes and/or to search the ship or the crews' or emigrants' boxes for pilfered items such as carpenter's tools, silk handkerchiefs, silk drapes, a pencil case, tooth pick, sovereign and a firkin of butter. |
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With over 250 passengers plus crew living, sleeping and eating all day every day in a small area with no way of getting away from each other, naturally there were many poblems. Boredom and frustration, jealousy, despair, home-sickness and illness along with lengthy periods of constant bad weather all led to potential trouble, and alcohol made things very much worse. Fights frequently broke out and on one occasion William reported "plenty of blood". These fights, sometimes involving a number of people, were at times just between crew nembers, at others between passengers, or between crew members and passengers, or crew members and the Captain, and even, on occasions, between passengers and the Captain. |
| 9 |
Saw Several Birds. |
| 10 |
10 p.m. a beautiful Starlight night. It appeared as tho' we was in a Globe. The Stars were very thick and appeared to touch the Water". |
| 11 |
4 P.M. 375 Miles from the Line. South West by West about 6 to 8 an hour. |
| 12 |
Received 2 Quarts of Water in the Room of 3 Quarts per day as the Capt. would not go into the Cape ... Contest with the Pafsengers about going to the Cape. I do not Care which way it is - do as they like. |
| 13 |
At 9 a.m. a partition about going to the Cape. D-d the [?] choice ... |
| 15 |
12 Noon 17 Deg. from the Line. very rough again, two sails were carried away and William could not stand in their cabin. |
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6-1/2 P.M. A Ship supposed to be Dutch passed us. We Could not get her Name or where She was bound for. |
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The next two or three days were even worse - "Sea still running mountains high. A very rough night. The water came into our cabin all over the bed and - ". " ... Sails carried away ... Felt very poorly the last 3 days .." |
| 17 |
24 -19 Deg. from the Line going direct South. 6 P.M. Saw a Ship on our Weather Side aft of us. |
| 18 |
The Ship we Saw last night still off us. 9 A.M. found her name to be the George the 4th, East Indiaman 11 A.M. She went by us Beautiful 5 P.M. Saw another Sail on our Lee. |
| 19 |
12 Noon 29 - 34 South West of the Line. Saw Several Cape hens & Albatross. |
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That night a fire, the fear of all captains, crew and passengers, and which could so easily have brought disaster to the ship, occurred in the top of the Cooks Galley, but luckily was put out without doing much damage. |
| 20 |
12 Noon 218 Miles North of the Cape Making no way. |
| 21 |
Made 30 Miles Since 12 yesterday. 4 Ships in Sight. One a Frenchman - Could Not tell what the other 3 where. |
| 22 |
A Smart Breeze going from 5 to 6 an hour. Saw 2 Ships at a distance from Us. Saw several Birds. Several Shot at them. No Go. |
| 24 |
Wind right forces going from 8 -10 an hour. Made about two hundred and thirty miles since yesterday - about 1,200 miles north of the Cape. Saw several Cape hens and penguins. |
| 25 |
A great quantity of birds, even flying around the ship. |
| 26 |
7-1/2 P.M.A ship passed us - a Dutch ship, on the weather side. |
| 27 |
Saw the vessel once again on the weather side. |
| 28 |
This night must have been the longest and the worst of the whole voyage. William's complete entry for that night reads: A dreadful rough night, at about 2 a.m. the storm was so rough that the life boat containing 2 cows, I calf and I sheep and 3 goats was carried away and nearly going overboard. The two cooking places, the stewards pantry and everything on deck was broken to pieces, the barrels rolling about dreadfully. |
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Our cabin was full of water, all night and day. The children was washed out of their beds. We had several things broken and we was thrown out of bed several times. 5 a.m. - the deck had the appearance of the ruins of a fire. The cinders and coals and wood laying about in all directions. Still very rough and a great deal of rain. The Binnacle was carried away; in fact it was a compleat scene of destruction. 10 p.m. - not so rough. |
| 30 |
10 P.M. Sails in sight. |
| OCT. 1838 |
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| 1 |
2 p.m. 2 sails seen - one fore and one aft of us. |
| 2 |
From 4- 5 knots. Several birds seen about the ship. |
| 3 |
Sail seen 6 p.m. |
| 5 |
2 sails seen at a distance. |
| 6 |
Ship seen this afternoon - the "George the Fourth". The same that we saw a few days ago. |
| 7 |
About 950 miles east from the Cape. |
| 9 |
Going about 9 miles an hour. |
| 10 |
The sailors caught a fish which they called a dogfish. I had some of it and found it very good eating. |
| 11 |
The sea broke over the ship several times and our cabin was full of water, which made us very uncomfortable, and in evening Mr. Harvey and me had some words about the oil, / think he used us very bad about the oil, but I got oil for the night. |
| 12 |
2 sails seen at a distance north east of us - could not tell what they were. |
| 14 |
Going 8 -9 an hour. 9 am. a vessel on our weather side. 2 p.m. ahead of us - could not tell what she was. |
| 15 |
A smart breeze - going about 8 - 9 an hour. |
| 16 |
9 p.m. a cold comfortless night. |
| 17 |
The ship rolling very much all night and threw all our things off the breakfast table and broke them ... |
| 18 |
Very rough and wet. The sea broke over and nearly washed us out of our cabin. |
| 19 |
Passed the "Island of Amsterdam" about 11 am. and very near. |
| 21 |
About 5 p.m. one of the booms was carried away. The Captain struck the man at the wheel, as some person told me, but I believe it was meant to point out his duty. |
| 22 |
Made last week near 17 hundred miles. Hope in about a fortnight more to make land at Adelaide. Going from 7 to 10 an hour. |
| 23 |
Going on well, about 2,256 miles from Adelaide. |
| 24 |
Going 7-9 an hour. |
| 25 |
Going on nearly 1800 miles from Adelaide. |
| 26 |
Nearly a calm [Ironically the ship was almost becalmed]. A slight wind but against us. One diary entry which shows how a little thing could cause tempers to flare. This afternoon one of the sailors named Dick Gifford struck Dawson on the Poop several times about a needle. Dawson laid down to prevent the other from hitting him. The sailor was drunk. |
| 27 |
Still a calm. 5 large albatross was caught with hooks and lines this morning. Saw a very large whale some distance from the ship. |
| 28 |
Still calm. |
| 29 |
A breeze sprang up this afternoon, wind against us. |
| 31 |
Saw a large whale a short dislance lance from the ship. |
| NOV. 1838 |
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| 1 |
Almost a calm - this is very bad. Several whales were seen around the ship. |
| 2 |
About 11 hundred miles from Adelaide. |
| 4 |
Nearly a calm, about 900 miles off Adelaide. Not going more than 2 miles an hour. 3 albatrosses caught, beautiful birds. |
| 5 |
Skinned the albatross and the meat looks beautiful. Another child died and "was consigned to the Deep" during the afternoon. |
| 6 |
This is very bad as we expected to be at Adelaide by this time. Cooked the albatross - made us a very good dinner. |
| 7 | We have had a very rough night. 3 p.m. still the same. Nearly all the sails taken in, much rain, wind, rain and sea dreadfully rough.
another baby was born - a daughter to John and Lucy Palmer |
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10 p.m. had a severe fall on deck, wet through. |
| 8 |
Not so rough this morning. All day wind still against us. 8 p.m. The sailors pumped the ship without putting the hatch on. The consequence was that the water came down in our cabin dreadfully - not all right. I have since - |
