The Last Voyage: To India and Australia, in the 'Sunbeam'

by Annie Brassey

PORT DARWIN to MAURITIUS and CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Date	Remarks	Baro- meter	Temperature (Fahr.)				Latitude	Longitude	Distance		Wind
			Water	Air					Steam	Sail
			8 a.m.	8 a.m.	Noon	6 p.m.
1887			°	°	°	°	° ´	° ´
Sept. 7	2 a.m. left Port Darwin	30·02	79	81·5	83	82	12.27 S	129.46 E	72	—	Calm
8	... ... ...	30·07	78·5	81	81	80·5	12.56 S	126.30 E	200	—	Calm
9	... ... ...	30·06	79	78·5	80	79	13.07 S	124.31 E	68	54	E 1 to SE 3
10	... ... ...	29·95	79	79	80·5	79·5	13.17 S	121.03 E	208	—	S to SE 1 to 2
11	... ... ...	29·98	79	78	80	79	13.39 S	118.53 E	51	76	SSE 1 to 3
12	... ... ...	30·05	79	78	80	79	14.11 S	116.47 E	—	128	SSE to SE 2 to 3
13	... ... ...	30·07	79	77·5	79	78	15.17 S	114.28 E	—	150	SSE to ESE 1 to 3
14	☩ Lady Brasseydied 11 a.m., committed to thedeep at sunset, lat. 15.50 S, long. 110.38 E	—	77	76·5	76	75·5	15.45 S	111.39 E	—	168	S by E to SE 2 to 4
15	... ... ...	30·05	76	74·5	74	74	16.14 S	107.38 E	—	242	SSE 4 to 5
16	... ... ...	30·10	74	74	73·5	73·5	16.40 S	104.15 E	—	198	SE by S 3 to 4
17	... ... ...	30·10	73·5	73	73	73	16.58 S	100.36 E	—	208	SE 3 to 5
18	... ... ...	30·12	73	72	72·5	72	17.16 S	96.45 E	—	222	SE 3 to 5
19	... ... ...	30·15	72·5	71	71	71	17.24 S	91.53 E	—	273	SE by S 5 to 6
20	... ... ...	30·11	72·5	72	72	71·5	18.17 S	88.02 E	—	226	SE 6 to 3
21	... ... ...	30·14	73	71·5	72	71·5	18.28 S	84.57 E	—	177	SE 2 to 4
22	... ... ...	30·12	72·5	72	72	71·5	18.37 S	80.19 E	—	276	SE 4 to 6
23	... ... ...	30·24	72	71·5	72	71·5	19.21 S	76.45 E	—	207	SE to E 5 to 3
24	... ... ...	30·22	72·5	71	72	71·5	19.21 S	72.45 E	—	227	SE 4
25	... ... ...	30·17	73	71	72	72	19.23 S	69.07 E	—	206	SE 4
26	4 p.m. made Rodriguez	30·15	74	72	72·5	72	19.18 S	64.52 E	—	241	SE to SE by S 4 to 6
27	... ... ...	30·22	73	72·5	73	72·5	19.38 S	61.11 E	—	210	SE by S to E by S 6 to 3
28	4 p.m. made Round Island	30·22	73·5	73	74·5	74	19.53 S	58.45 E	—	133	E to E by N 3 to 2
29	12.30 a.m. anchored off Port Louis	—	73·5	73·5	75	74	—	—	71	8	Calm
30	At Mauritius	—	73	74	75	74	—	—	—	—	—
Oct. 1	1 p.m. left Port Louis	—	73	73·5	74	73·5	—	—	—	—	—
2	In sight of Bourbon all day	30·22	72	74	76	74·5	22.00 S	55.39 E	—	155	SE by E to E by N 5 to 2
3	Noon, Bourbon still visible	30·30	72	70	72·5	72	22.28 S	54.14 E	—	83	SE 1 variable
4	... ... ...	30·40	72	70·5	72	71	24.22 S	49.58 E	—	266	SSE to SE by E 5 to 7
5	... ... ...	30·40	71·5	69·5	71	70·5	27.02 S	45.39 E	—	282	SE to E 5 to 7
6	... ... ...	30·28	67·5	69·5	72	71	28.49 S	41.27 E	—	247	ESE to E 6 to 4
7	... ... ...	30·20	78·5	70·5	71	70	29.41 S	38.39 E	138	19	E by N 2 to 1
8	Brisk gale. Midnight, wind fell light	29·96	69·5	69·5	71	70	30.12 S	34.18 E	96	131	E 2 to NNE 8
9	Hard gale from SW. Nasty sea.Midnight, gale moderated	29·75	71	71	72·5	72	31.44 S	31.17 E	—	183	NE by E 8 to SW
10	5 a.m. made land at Gordon Bay	30·10	71	64	68	66	32.17 S	29.13 E	24	88	SW by S 9 to E 1
11	Beating to windward under steam and sail.10 p.m. made Cape Recife light	29·90	63	65	67	63	33.57 S	26.39 E	33	120	E by N 9 W by S 7
12	2.30 a.m. anchored Algoa Bay	30·36	62	63	65	64	—	—	56	—	—
13	6 a.m. left Algoa Bay	30·40	62	63	64·5	63·5	34.14 S	25.20 E	11	24	SE by E 7
14	2 p.m. rounded Cape Agulhas.10.30 p.m. made Cape of Good Hope light	30·10	64	64	64	64	35.50 S	20.18 E	—	260	SE by E 6 to 7
15	8 a.m. anchored Table Bay	—	56	63	64	65	—	—	19	134	SSE 7

N.B.—On this passage the 'Sunbeam' made the fastest long run she has ever made. In the fortnight Sept. 13 to 27 she did 3,073 knots.

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CAPE OF GOOD HOPE to PORTSMOUTH.

Date	Remarks	Baro- meter	Temperature (Fahr.)				Latitude	Longitude	Distance		Wind
			Water	Air					Steam	Sail
			8 a.m.	8 a.m.	Noon	6 p.m.
1887			°	°	°	°	° ´	° ´
Oct. 24	10.30 a.m. weighed and proceeded to sea.Noon, returned	30·15	55	55	56·5	56	—	—	—	5	W by N 7
25	7 p.m. left Cape Town.Midnight, off Robben Island under steam.5 p.m. ceased steaming	30·40	60	56·5	58	57·5	33.10 S	17.12 E	72	3	Calm
26	... ... ...	30·20	61	62	63·5	63	30.49 S	13.34 E	40	193	S by N to S 2 to 7
27	... ... ...	30·21	60·5	59	60·5	60	27.55 S	10.22 E	—	243	6 to 8
28	... ... ...	30·23	61·5	61	61·5	61	25.38 S	7.08 E	—	223	S to S by E 6
29	'Roslin Castle' passed 'Sunbeam,' homeward bound	30·24	63·5	60·5	63	62·5	24.09 S	3.39 E	—	209	SE to SSE 5
30	'Norham Castle' passed 'Sunbeam,' outward bound	30·25	63·5	62	64·5	63·5	22.06 S	2.02 E	—	152	SE 4 to SE by S 2
31	... ... ...	30·23	64·5	64	66	64·5	19.46 S	0.03 W	—	182	SE 5 to 2
Nov. 1	... ... ...	30·20	65·5	65	66	65	17.48 S	1.32 W	—	146	SE 3 to 2
2	... ... ...	30·17	67·5	65	66·5	66	16.18 S	3.25 W	—	140	SE by S to SE by E 2 to 3
3	3 a.m. made St. Helena.9 a.m. anchored off James Town.10.30 p.m. left St. Helena	30·14	68	66	69	66·5	—	—	—	140	S by E 4 to 2
4	1 a.m. ceased steaming	30·13	69	68	69	69	14.26 S	7.03 W	17	97	ESE 5 to 3
5	... ... ...	30·13	71	70	71	70·5	12.11 S	9.15 W	—	186	SE 3 to 4
6	... ... ...	30·17	73	73	74·5	74	9.59 S	11.06 W	—	171	SE 4 to 2
7	4 p.m. made Ascension.10 p.m. hove to	30·02	74·5	73·5	75	75·5	8.33 S	13.33 W	—	169	SE to SSE 2 to
8	7 a.m. anchored Clarence Bay	30·04	76·5	76·5	78	77	—	—	—	68	SE 3
9	5 p.m. left Ascension	30·00	77	76·5	65[7]	77	4.44 S	14.53 W	—	200	SE 6 to 5
10	1 a.m. passed H.M.S. 'Wye'	30·00	77	77	78	77·5	—	—	—	—	—
11	... ... ...	30·00	78	78	79·5	79·5	.58 S	14.30 W	—	227	SE to SSE 6 to 4
12	... ... ...	30·00	80·5	79	80	79·5	2.16 N	13.54 W	—	196	SE by E 3 to 4
13	11 p.m. commenced steaming	30·00	82·5	81	81	82	5.21 N	13.47 W	—	185	SE by S 3 to 2
14	3 p.m. made hills about Sierra Leone.9 p.m. anchored at Free Town	30·00	81·5	80·5	81·5	82	7.57 N	14.00 W	104	52	ESE 2. Calm
15	6 p.m. left Sierra Leone	30·00	82	81	82·5	81·5	—	—	56	—	Calm
16	... ... ...	30·00	83	82·5	83·5	83	9.35 N	14.57 W	120	—	NNE 1
17	8 a.m. heavy rain-squall with wind.12.45 p.m. ceased steaming	30·04	81·5	81	82	81·5	11.04 N	17.06 W[8]	182	—	NNE 1 to 8
18	... ... ...	30·02	80	81	81·5	80·5	12.30 N	20.34 W	—	205	NE by N 6 to 7
19	Noon, arrived Porto Praya.6 p.m. proceeded	30·05	78·5	79	80	79	14.55 N	23.25 W	—	240	NE by N 6 to 7
20	1 a.m. to 2.30 a.m. under steam.Passed to leeward of St. Vincent, &c.	30·05	78	77·5	78·5	78	16.25 N	24.55 W	15	130	NE by E 6
21	Sighted two ships and a barque bound south	30·10	78	77	77	76	19.14 N[8] 19.01 N	25.42 W	15	160	E by N 6 to 7
22	Passed numerous sailing ships	30·12	77	74·5	74	73·5	22.37 N[8] 22.20 N	25.54 W	—	203	E ½ N 7 to 5
23	6 a.m. commenced steaming.10 a.m. stopped to repair boiler tubes.Noon, proceeded	30·05	76·5	73	74	73	24.05 N	27.04 W	23	100	NE 4 to 1
24	7 a.m. ceased steaming.Heavy swell from NNE	30·05	75	69·5	70·5	70	26.13 N[8] 25.58 N	28.03 W	81	34	NNE to NE
25	... ... ...	30·20	73	70	71·5	70	27.30 N	30.50 W	—	175	N by E to NE by N 6
26	... ... ...	30·29	72	68·5	69	67·5	29.40 N	32.14 W	—	151	NE 3 to 5
27	Finally lost NE trade	30·25	72	68	69	68	30.55 N	31.58 W	—	85	Variable
28	... ... ...	30·13	70	66·5	67·5	65·5	32.38 N	31.39 W	—	112	WNW 4 to E 2
29	Moderate gale	30·15	68	63	64	62·5	34.54 N	31.20 W	—	130	E 3 to E by S 7
30	Gale increasing. Split mainsail, mizen foresail, and jib	30·33	67	61·5	62·5	62	36.43 N	30.40 W	—	112	ESE 8 to 9
Dec. 1	Gale moderating towards night	30·17	64·5	62·5	63·5	63	37.35 N[8]	30.09 W[8]	—	57	SE 8 to 9
2	Daybreak, made Fayal.Worked up under steam and sail to Pico	30·10	64·5	62·5	65	63	38.42 N	28.48 W	—	92	S by E 8 to 9
3	7 a.m. anchored Horta Bay.4.30 p.m. weighed	30·10	64·5	62	63·5	62·5	—	—	37	—	S 3 to 4
4	2 a.m. wind flew suddenly to NNE.10 a.m. blowing a gale.Bore up for Terceira. Hove to	30·03	64	60·5	60·5	59·5	—	—	8	99	NE 5 to 10
5	10 a.m. commenced steaming.10 p.m. ceased, boiler having finally given out	30·30	64	60	61	60	38.48 N	27.22 W	11	61	Calm. E 3
6	... ... ...	30·40	63	60	61	61	39.09 N	25.15 W	50	55	NE to ENE 3
7	... ... ...	30·44	63	59	59·5	60	40.59 N	23.30 W	—	135	E to S 3
8	... ... ...	30·26	63·5	60	60	60	42.43 N	20.00 W	—	190	SW to W 5 to 6
9	... ... ...	30·10	58	58·5	60	58	45.08 N[8] 44.53 N	16.04 W	—	217	W by S 7 to 8
10	3.30 a.m. wind fell suddenly.No observations	30·10	54	54·5	54	53	46.11 N	13.24 W	—	134	W by S 8 to NE
11	Weather thick with rain. No observations	—	55	53	—	—	47.09 N[8]	11.10 W[8]	—	109	SE 2 to 6
12	8 p.m. made Bishop and St. Agnes lights.Position 35 miles to N of reckoning	—	—	—	—	—	49.17 N[8]	7.18 W[8]	—	201	S by E 6 to SSW 2
13	Weather thick.4 p.m. made stand near St. Catherine's.8 p.m. anchored close to the Nab	—	—	—	—	—	50.13 N	2.17 W[8]	—	230	SSW 7 to 8
14	Towed into Portsmouth Harbour	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	64	—

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SUMMARY.

	Steam		Sail
Portsmouth to Bombay	3,040	miles	4,046	miles.
Bombay to Macassar	4,585	"	2,509	"
Macassar to Adelaide	601	"	3,256	"
Adelaide to Port Darwin	976	"	3,285	"
Port Darwin to Cape of Good Hope	1,047	"	5,622	"
Cape of Good Hope to Portsmouth	831	"	6,668	"
	11,080	"	25,386	"