1862

23 June

I have made all preparations for my departure tomorrow in the Cleopatra for Fernando Po, and all in one day. I have bought all my clothes; I have had my Carte de Visite taken; I have bade farewell to my friends. I have seen Mr. Lynslager and have got drawn up for his signature a proposal of engagement which is written as a letter and accepted by me. The terms are that I shall engage for 3 years as a clerk, in consideration of which he pays my passage out and gives me board, lodging &c. with £100 per annum.

24 June

Was up at 6 in the morning-a dreary, rainy, drizzly morning, fair type of my own thoughts. Lynslager signed his letter of engagement and gave me instructions. Bade a last farewell to Boyne Hilbon and Henry before leaving old England for so long a time. I might have stayed until next mail but the thought of again enduring the agonies of a second good-bye was enough to deter me from doing so. I am on board and we are off; the die is cast for better or for worse. I trust in Providence. Left Liverpool 10 a.m., Holyhead 6 p.m.

Am not yet sick; it is not very rough. Everything here seems so strange and peculiar; almost all drink; some swear; all idle their time away doing nothing; very different from what I have been accustomed to. There are only some two or three females on board, the rest are men. I expect I shall soon be able to shake off this awful depression of spirits as I get more familiar with my neighbours and the circumstances in which I am situated; at the very time I write, which is evening, my spirits are light compared with what they were this morning.

25 June

We have still splendid weather but since we got from under the lee of the Irish Coast, we have had a nasty roll from the Atlantic which has made me feel a certain peculiarity in the regions of my stomach.