"I took some wine with us and went to visit la belle Pierce, who we find very big with child, and a pretty lady, one Mrs. Clifford, with her, where we staid and were extraordinary merry." Not just merry, but "extraordinary merry"! La belle Pierce is not only agelessly beautiful, she also seems to be a lot of fun and ALWAYS ready to party hearty, even when (as today) she is heavily gravid (and presumably she is drinking wine anyway; how people would tut-tut today!).
So a slave swam out to the ship, apparently of his own volition, to bring Sandwich a report on the damage that the cannon balls had done to Algiers. I wonder whether the swimming slave was paid for this intelligence -- or more to the point, how much he was paid, since it's doubtful he would have done this just for the fun of it.
So they anchored in 29 fathoms, or (6' feet per fathom x 29 =) 174 feet. That's pretty deep. If they used a normal sailboat scope of 7, they would need to let out (7 x 174 ft. or) 1,218 ft.(!) of anchor rode. I can just imagine the men working the capstan a VERY long time to weigh that anchor. The Greeks and Romans already had iron and metal anchors, so I suppose Sandwich did too.
Regarding Sandwich's log -- in the Med.: "July 26th. Friday. About noon we fell about 6 leagues to the eastward of Cape Tenez." A league is either 3.45 statute miles or 3.0 nautical miles, the latter being what Sandwich meant, so Sandwich "fell" ("fell off" = sailed downwind) 18 nautical miles to the eastward of Cape Tenez.
Comments
Third Reading
About Friday 9 August 1661
Hoff • Link
"I took some wine with us and went to visit la belle Pierce, who we find very big with child, and a pretty lady, one Mrs. Clifford, with her, where we staid and were extraordinary merry."
Not just merry, but "extraordinary merry"! La belle Pierce is not only agelessly beautiful, she also seems to be a lot of fun and ALWAYS ready to party hearty, even when (as today) she is heavily gravid (and presumably she is drinking wine anyway; how people would tut-tut today!).
About Wednesday 31 July 1661
Hoff • Link
So a slave swam out to the ship, apparently of his own volition, to bring Sandwich a report on the damage that the cannon balls had done to Algiers. I wonder whether the swimming slave was paid for this intelligence -- or more to the point, how much he was paid, since it's doubtful he would have done this just for the fun of it.
About Monday 29 July 1661
Hoff • Link
So they anchored in 29 fathoms, or (6' feet per fathom x 29 =) 174 feet. That's pretty deep. If they used a normal sailboat scope of 7, they would need to let out (7 x 174 ft. or) 1,218 ft.(!) of anchor rode. I can just imagine the men working the capstan a VERY long time to weigh that anchor. The Greeks and Romans already had iron and metal anchors, so I suppose Sandwich did too.
About Saturday 27 July 1661
Hoff • Link
"the Scorpion's heart" for Antares, how lovely!
About Friday 26 July 1661
Hoff • Link
Regarding Sandwich's log -- in the Med.:
"July 26th. Friday. About noon we fell about 6 leagues to the eastward of Cape Tenez."
A league is either 3.45 statute miles or 3.0 nautical miles, the latter being what Sandwich meant, so Sandwich "fell" ("fell off" = sailed downwind) 18 nautical miles to the eastward of Cape Tenez.