August 16th, 1872. Cloudy; rain.

At one o'clock in the afternoon we passed the Fastnet Light on the coast of Ireland, and at two arrived off the port of Queenstown [now Cobh]. It was so named because the present queen landed there when she toured Ireland twenty years ago. The harbour was a small bay encircled by hills. Today it was raining and there was a heavy swell. We did not enter the harbour, therefore, but hove to at the mouth of the bay to allow some of the passengers to go ashore by boat. We then got under way again. After nightfall we sailed through St. George's Channel, which lies between Ireland and England.

August 17th. Fine; light breeze.

During the morning we sailed along the coast of the region called Wales. Wales is described as a mountainous area of Britain. Ranges of hills sweep down to the sea, and some high peaks could be seen among them. Today, the wind having died down, the sea was like a millpond. All the way to Liverpool nothing lay ahead but the smooth and boundless sea, with not a glimpse of a single hill on the horizon.

Our official host, General [George Gardiner] Alexander, and the interpreter, Mr. [William George] Aston, had come to Liverpool to welcome us on behalf of the British government and were awaiting us aboard a small steamboat anchored in the estuary of the river Mersey.