Details

Subjects:

Dixon, Jeremiah.
Grant, Charles Cathcart, Captain.
Haldane, James, Captain.
Harrold, Captain.
Maskelyne, Nevil, 1732-1811.
Smith, Captain.
Great Britain. Royal Navy.
Mercury Snow (Ship).
Prince Edward (Ship).
H.M.S. Seahorse (Ship).
Meteorology -- Observations.
Voyages and travels.

Form/Genre:

Codices.
Ships' logs.
Manuscripts, English.
Manuscripts, European.

Language:

English.

Biography/History:

An English astronomer who spent much of his career studying longitude and the difficulties of its calculation while at sea. He traveled to the Cape of Good Hope in 1761 with Jeremiah Dixon to observe the transit of Venus. He is best known for his work with Dixon in establishing the Mason-Dixon line, from 1763 to 1767.

Summary:

Logbook kept by Charles Mason during his journey with Jeremiah Dixon to observe the transit of Venus from Bencoolen on the island of Sumatra in 1761. The log begins on the H.M.S. Seahorse, an armed British vessel under the command of Captain Smith, leaving Spithead, 8 January 1761. The entry for the following day, 9 January 1761, describes a naval battle with the French 34-gun frigate, Le Grand, and details the damage to the ship and the number of casualties and wounded individuals. The ship then returns to Plymouth for repairs and Captain Charles Cathcart Grant takes command of the ship. They sail from Plymouth on 5 February 1761 arriving at the Cape of Good Hope on 27 April 1761. The delays caused by bad weather and the encounter with the French vessel would have prevented Mason and Dixon from reaching Bencoolen in time to observe the transit, causing them to remain at the Cape of Good Hope to observe the transit from there on 6 June 1761. The logbook continues with the first leg of Mason's return voyage on board the Mercury Snow under Captain Harrold from the Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena, with dated entries beginning 3 October 1761 and ending 15 December 1761. Upon Mason's arrival at St. Helena's James Fort, he is welcomed by Governor Hutchinson and the British Royal Astronomer, Nevil Maskelyne who, like Mason and Dixon, had also been commissioned to observe the transit of Venus from a British-ruled territory in the southern hemisphere (f. 50v). The final leg of the journey is from St. Helena on board the Prince Edward, East Indiaman, to Plymouth from 26 January 1762 to 6 April 1762, under the command of Captain James Haldane. The logbook contains hourly observations of speed, course, wind conditions, meteorological conditions, and ships sighted; daily records of latitude, and calculations and observations on determining longitude; and sightings of sea life such as albatrosses, man of war birds, porpoises, turtles, and sharks. One entry records the drowning of a Moorish sailor who fell overboard while at sea (f. 26v).

Notes:

Ms. codex.
Foliation: Paper, 87; [1-87]; modern foliation in pencil, upper right recto.
Script: Written in a cursive script in the hand of Charles Mason (signature, f. 87v).
Binding: Contemporary parchment.
Origin: Written on board the H.M.S. Seahorse, the Mercury Snow, and the Prince Edward, from 8 January 1761 to 6 April 1762, with notes in the same hand added after 1763 (f. 86r, 86v).

Cited in:

Described in Zacour, Norman P. and Hirsch, Rudolf. Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Libraries of the University of Pennsylvania to 1800 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1965), p. 52 (Ms. English 22).

Cited as:

UPenn Ms. Codex 208

OCLC:

155962842

Web link:

Unique at Penn blog post