Search

This volume (67 pages) is an English translation of Jean Bon Saint-André's journal of his experiences with the French Navy during the Battle of the First of June in 1794.

This volume (67 pages) is an English translation of Jean Bon Saint-André's journal of his experiences with the French Navy before, during, and after the Battle of the First of June, Floréal 27-Prairial 18, 1794 (roughly mid-May to early June in the Georgian calendar). The volume is titled "Long Live the Mountain: A concise Journal of the Cruize of the fleet of the [French] Republic commanded by Rear Admiral Villaret kept daily by Jean Bon St. André the Representative of the People on board the Montagne." The book once belonged to Louisa Catherine Altamont.

The first page has a chart of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd French squadrons, with the names of frigates, ships of the line, and their commanders. Prior to the battle, Saint-André provided detailed information about the French fleet's movements from Brest to the Atlantic Ocean, where they encountered the British Royal Navy. He recorded copies of the reports that he sent to the Committee of Public Safety, in which he documented the fleet's progress, and discussed damage sustained by French ships during the engagement.

The John Tapson journal is a detailed record of a junior officer's service in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War and the War of 1812.

The journal of Captain's Clerk and Purser, John Tapson, is an outstanding record of a junior officer's service in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War. Probably a copy made in later years, the journal is a highly literate, occasionally witty journey through the Napoleonic naval war, providing a view of life aboard a Royal Navy ship that may be slightly sanitized, but nevertheless very revealing. There are particularly important descriptions of the near mutiny of the frigate Africaine, the operations along the Spanish coast during the late summer, 1808, and the Neapolitan coast in the late spring, 1809, and of the capture and rescue of the crew of the Africaine in Mauritius, in the fall, 1810.

Though they are less dramatic, Tapson's journal entries from August, 1811, through December, 1814, are no less valuable. Cruising the waters of Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia, with a side journey to Iraq, Tapson includes some excellent descriptions of English and Dutch colonial outposts in South Asia and the East Indies. A calm air of British superiority and authority over native and rival colonial powers, alike, exudes from Tapson's descriptions of Ceylon and Madras, and particularly in his depictions of interactions with the Portuguese, Dutch and natives in the eastern Indonesian islands.

These 3 volumes are an English translation of Robert Challe's Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales, which chronicles his journey to India as purser on the French East India Company's ship Ecueil between 1690 and 1691. Challe described scenery, wildlife, and culture in Africa, India, and the Caribbean.

These 3 volumes are an English translation of Robert Challe's Journal d'un Voyage fait aux Indes Orientales, which chronicles his journey to India as purser on the French East India Company's ship Ecueil between 1690 and 1691. The first volume opens with a brief introduction to the work, translated by "[I.?] R." for J. Boulter, a friend of Challe's. The volumes, which cover the entirety of Challe's travels on the Ecueil and contain many revisions and corrections, are accompanied by a two-page letter by Sir David Dundas concerning the manuscript's translation and contents, the background of the author, and the reasons why Dundas does not believe that the Hakluyt Society would be interested in publishing the text. Each of the 3 volumes bears the bookplate of Sir Thomas Baring, Baronet.

Challe began his narrative on February 24, 1690, when six ships under the command of Abraham Du Quesne departed from Port Louis, France, for the East Indies. He recorded his observations in daily entries, which vary in length between single sentences and descriptive passages of 30 pages or more. Challe recorded the ship's course and location, though he noted the unreliability of longitude measurements and remarked on the inaccuracy of contemporary maps (Vol. 1, pp. 67-68). After heading south along the coasts of France and Spain, the Ecueil made stops in the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, and Challe reflected on the history of Spanish conquests in the New World, as well as on predestination and other topics related to Christianity. Challe also described daily events onboard the ship and marine life he observed. The first volume concludes on May 30, 1690, with the ship's arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, which occasioned a discussion of Dutch trade.

The narrative resumed on June 1, 1690, as the Ecueil headed for Madagascar; the second volume includes a lengthy essay on the history, people, flora, and other aspects of the island of Moaly (Mohilla/Mwali) (pp. 30-63). The volume also contains a description of the ship's encounter with the British Philip Herbert, which ended when the trapped British captain set his own boat on fire, resulting in the death of most of his crew (Vol. 2, pp. 64-76). Challe composed entries as he traveled around the Maldives and Ceylon, and temporarily ceased writing after his arrival in Pontincheri (Pondicherry), India, on August 12, 1790. His next entry, dated August 24, 1690 (Vol. 2, pp. 116-158), describes the area, including observations on local slaves (Vol. 2, p. 137). After traveling along the eastern coast of India and down the western coast of Burma, the ship sailed to Bengal, where it remained at the close of Volume 2 on December 31, 1690. Volume 3 opens on January 1, 1691, shortly before the Ecueil began its return journey to France, a voyage covered in daily entries that often concern the wind speed and the author's increasing boredom. The Ecueil traced its earlier route around the Cape of Good Hope before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for a journey to Martinique and other Caribbean islands. After leaving the Americas on July 9, 1691, the Ecueil returned to Port Louis on August 20, the final date recorded in the journal.