July 2nd 1865

July 2nd: Porpoises seen today passed several vessels; wind light and variable but against us; under steam; hauling more to the south and set more fore and aft canvas. Average barometer 30 inches, average thermometer 96 degs, distance run 190 miles. Latitude 48 degs 3 mins N. Longitude 6 degs 57 mins W.

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A True copy of the Golden Fleece Gazette, printed on board July 15th 1865 (there are no dates on these Gazette entries so I will post them "now and again" !)

Daughters of imitation art
On you with confidence I call
To trace with singleness of heart
Your talents’ fond memorial.

Sons of the grafuc tribe to you
A vain appeal it cannot make
Cast in your offering with the few
and kindly act for kindness sake.

Ye critics who will no gold miss
Ye connoisseurs who need agree
The sweet revenge I ask is this
that if improve on all ye see.

In commencing a public journal like the Golden Fleece Gazette it is necessary to announce our policy seal creed to put before our readers the programme by which we hope to gain their confidences and ensure our success, we beg distinctly to state that we shall not pledge ourselves to either partys conservative or liberal; neither will we support any other cabinet, part or Harboard, we hold ourselves radically free to think and act for the good of our subscribers, be they patrician, plebeian, in catering from every sound, fore and aft, from the depths of the orlop, cockpits main and saloon decks, even to the main truck. We certainly have not so extensive a field as the other great leading journals of the day to glean matters from, we have not the knotty feuds in the court of St Benedict heard before. Tis not well to comment upon, nor Reuters Justice nor Police inteligence. Our Political horizon is summed up in the mornings and evenings. Hows her head, those few words do not probably at present engage so much attention as they will do when sailing through the Bays of Bengal. Besides the want of subject matter we have had many difficulties to contend against with our printing machinery having had no place to set it up, consequently our working director was under the necessity of discharging his large staff of composition and w now find great difficulty in supplying their places.

We hope having engaged the fertile brains of most, and shurely the good wishes of all, with Gods blessing and a little management to rise superier to every obsticle and yet electrify the world with the wit and talent of the Golden Fleece.

The programme we propose to submit, is to set before our readers, a resume of the weeks transactions under the head of our log. The space for foreign intelude will be devoted to passing ships. There will be a column for original communication and in writing then we would strongly urge upon our contributers to look always on the sunny side!!.. Ample space will be provided for births and marriages. In our answer to correspondents, we beg distinctly to state that we will not adjudicate between man and wife as to who is to wear the breeches nor shall we give any reasons why Crinalines have been discarded on board, we leave all such frivolities to the Family Herald and Saturday Review.

On another page we have recorded the particulars of the Death of Priest John Reynolds of the 16th Lancers. A sudden death is at all times unspeakable awful and startaling and the prescence of death on board ship is more peculiarly so from the close proximity to each other in which sea life places us. Moreover the fearfull rapidity with which the funeral succeeds a Death on Board ship cannot fail to awaken in us some serious reflections upon the uncertainty of human life. Within 24 hours and sometimes a far shorter time, before we have thoroughly realized the fact that a brother’s spirit has been removed from among us, his mortal remains are consigned to the deep. During the last week we have had all these most striking features in the workings of the King, of terrors exemplified to us in the Death of Private Reynolds of our Regiment. Poor fellow, at noon he was among us, appearantly in the full enjoyment of health and strength and in a few short hours he was a corpse stricken down in the prime of life, in the zenith of his manhood by that most subtle and insidious of all diseases, Heart Complaint. In his case there was no gradual sickness, nor weary tossing about on fevered pillows, without any warning of his near approach the dreadful enemy attacked him and in a few moments it was beyond human aide. At eight o clock on the following morning his comarades on the Quarter deck, to hear our solemn and impressive funeral read over him. There was scarce a breath of wind to raise a ripple, not a sound to disturbe the stillness of that calm July morning. until a dull heavy splash told us that the waters of the broad atlantic cloased over the remains of a kind husband, an affectionate father, and a good Soldier. And so our ship goes on in her course numbering one life on board less that when we sailed one more soul to its last reackoning, one more unit added to make up the long sum of eternity.

(Note from Noo: This journal is really hard to read as the handwriting is very old-fashioned, as is the language. If you notice any obvious mistakes please let me know. I have tried to replicate the spelling as it is written to reproduce the Gazette in truth.)