Collection ID: 0002 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Charles Mason logbook

Authors

• Mason, Charles, 1728-1786

Call number

Ms. Codex 208
(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Rare Book & Manuscript Library)

Alternate identifiers

• bibid: 2486434
• http://hdl.library.upenn.edu/1017/d/medren/2486434

Publisher

The University of Pennsylvania Libraries

Language

English

Origin

Date

1761-1762

Place

On board between England and the Cape of Good Hope

Summary

Logbook kept by Charles Mason during his journey with Jeremiah Dixon to observe the transit of Venus from Bencoolen on the island of Sumatra in 1761. The log begins on the H.M.S. Seahorse, an armed British vessel under the command of Captain Smith, leaving Spithead, 8 January 1761. The entry for the following day, 9 January 1761, describes a naval battle with the French 34-gun frigate, Le Grand, and details the damage to the ship and the number of casualties and wounded individuals. The ship then returns to Plymouth for repairs and Captain Charles Cathcart Grant takes command of the ship. They sail from Plymouth on 5 February 1761 arriving at the Cape of Good Hope on 27 April 1761. The delays caused by bad weather and the encounter with the French vessel would have prevented Mason and Dixon from reaching Bencoolen in time to observe the transit, causing them to remain at the Cape of Good Hope to observe the transit from there on 6 June 1761. The logbook continues with the first leg of Mason's return voyage on board the Mercury Snow under Captain Harrold from the Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena, with dated entries beginning 3 October 1761 and ending 15 December 1761. Upon Mason's arrival at St. Helena's James Fort, he is welcomed by Governor Hutchinson and the British Royal Astronomer, Nevil Maskelyne who, like Mason and Dixon, had also been commissioned to observe the transit of Venus from a British-ruled territory in the southern hemisphere (f. 50v). The final leg of the journey is from St. Helena on board the Prince Edward, East Indiaman, to Plymouth from 26 January 1762 to 6 April 1762, under the command of Captain James Haldane. The logbook contains hourly observations of speed, course, wind conditions, meteorological conditions, and ships sighted; daily records of latitude, and calculations and observations on determining longitude; and sightings of sea life such as albatrosses, man of war birds, porpoises, turtles, and sharks. One entry records the drowning of a Moorish sailor who fell overboard while at sea (f. 26v).

Notes

• Ms. codex.
   

Extent

87 leaves : 194 x 160 mm. bound to 199 x 160 mm

Foliation

Paper, 87; [1-87]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto.

Support

Paper

Binding

Contemporary parchment.

Script

Written in a cursive script in the hand of Charles Mason (signature, f. 87v).

Subjects topical

• Great Britain.--Royal Navy
• Mercury Snow (Ship)
• Prince Edward (Ship)
• H.M.S. Seahorse (Ship)
• Meteorology--Observations
• Voyages and travels

Genres

• Codices
• Ships' logs
• Manuscripts, English--18th century
• Manuscripts, European

Licenses

• Text

  This description is ©2015 University of Pennsylvania Libraries. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

• Text

  All referenced images and their content are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Decorations

• fol. 87v — Owner signature, f. 87v