Henry Hayne diary volume 4, 1817 and 1824

Containers:

Box 1

Scope and content:

Item is a bound manuscript journal of about 69 pages with Hayne's diary along with some abstracts of ship logs and notes from the Embassy's return voyage following the Embassy's visit to China. Their ship, H.M.S. Alceste, was shipwrecked near Pulo Leat (also called Pongok Island in modern-day Malaysia) on 1817 Feb. 17. The journal has Hayne's diary from February 19-23, recording his trip with the Embassy in open boats from the wreck to Batavia, Dutch East Indies. Hayne records the difficult conditions for Lord Amherst, his suite, and the marines who rowed the boat with no shade, limited rations, and very little fresh water.

The journal contains an abstract of the Alceste's logbook, tracking its voyage from the "mouth of Pie-ho" to the "Napa-Kian Roads in the Islands of Loo-choo," waiting for the return of the Embassy. The log then records the day of the shipwreck and the ferrying of the crew to Batavia, and their journey onwards on the H.M.S. Cesar. The Cesar sailed around Capt St. Marys, to False Bay, and then "anchored at Noon off James' Valley and Town St. Helena" on 27 June 1817. The logbook ends on 15 August.

Another portion of the journal includes "copious extracts from and few additions to a journal kept by one of the Officers of the Alceste during his stay on the Desert Island of Pulo Leat near which the said ship was wrecked" (page 29 on). This excerpt records efforts to rescue men and supplies, the departure of the ambassador's suite (including Hayne), digging for water, the arrival of Malaysian pirates and fishermen, and the eventual rescue of the survivors and their ferrying to Batavia where they were reunited with the Embassy and continued onward to England.

Also in the journal are abstracts of the HMS Blanche's logbook from Plymouth to Lisbon, Madeira, and Rio de Janiero (1824).

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