The original log-book of Captain Verney’s ship Meteor (plus a personal notebook) are currently held in the special collections of the State Library of New South Wales. (Call numbers: MLMSS 3401/Box MLK20/Item [2]).
This log-book chronicles Captain Verney’s voyage from Newcastle, New South Wales to the Chinese cities of Ningpo [Ningbo], Shanghai, and Hong Kong, and Foo Chow [Fuzhou]. From China, he sailed to Vietnam and Japan. He stopped in China again before returning to Sydney.
A ship’s logbook may not make a ‘thrilling story of the sea’1 for everyone; however, for those with some ‘imagination and knowledge of sea-ways’,2 they can be exceedingly interesting. In general, each day is represented by a brief entry, such as the following:
Wednesday, July 28th 1867: Light winds from SSE to East and fine clear Sky with a heavy SW swell heading to the NE[ward]. Employed Variously. Latitude by observation 29° 42′ N Longitude by Chronometer 133° 45′ E
Captain Thomas Verney. A Logbook containing the Proceedings on board the Barque ‘Meteor’, 1866-1868
But, as W. J. Dakin states, ‘every now and then entries occur which repay one well for pages of curt weather reports.’3 For example, Thomas Verney’s observations of Japan in June 1867, a country which, approximately a decade before his arrival, had been living under a strict policy of exclusion from the outside world.
Captain Thomas spent approximately one month at home in Sydney, before venturing back to China again on the Barque Meteor.
Source: State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 3401/Box MLK20/Item [2]
The transcription of this logbook is a work in progress.
| November 1866 | November 1867 |
| December 1866 | December 1867 |
| January 1867 | January 1868 |
| February 1867 | February 1868 |
| March 1867 | March 1868 |
| April 1867 | April 1868 |
| May 1867 | May 1868 |
| June 1867 | June 1868 |
| July 1867 | July 1868 |
| August 1867 | |
| September 1867 | |
| October 1867 |