James’ illustration of ladies at St Pierre
2nd Voyage to the Leeward islands
Notes of a Voyage to the Leeward Islands
Sailed 20th October 1834 – Returned 12th Jan.ry 1835
Absent 12 weeks
James’ diary entry for this voyage begins by describing a tragic incident before the Duke had even set sail, when the ship’s Commander and 4 of the ship’s company were tipped out of the ship’s gig in a rough sea state en route to St Mawes.
They again benefited from fair winds on their outward leg of this voyage and they made easy progress to Barbados. James went ashore to visit St Pierre because he had only been here before at night. Other than the “horrible stench” and the way the ladies were dressed, I think he rather liked it!
Having time to spare, they then spent a week sightseeing on the island of St Thomas. James liked the island “very well” and enjoyed watching the locals washing their clothes on the banks of a stream.
Click here to start reading the journal or download this voyage as a pdf.