English: Taken from the Log of HMS Achilles Commanded by Captain E. Kelly, Log of HMS Constance Comd. by Capt. Frederic Proby Doughty. [At sea: 1882-1884]

A logbook by an officer on board the HMS Achilles and HMS Constance.

The first account of the Achilles involves E.P.F.G. Grant recording activities such as cleaning and reading prayers aboard the ship between her place of anchor at Alexandria, Egypt, on 1 September 1882, and their subsequent installment at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, England, on 6 October. In the next section, Grant begins documenting the daily details of his longer service aboard the newly-commissioned corvette Constance. The log begins at Chatham on 7 October 1882, and ends as the ship is moored at Constance Cove, Vancouver, with the last entry of 7 June 1884.

Under Captain Frederic Proby Doughty, Constance voyaged across the Atlantic, rounded South America, and then spent time in Hawaii and other parts of the Pacific. The hand-drawn charts throughout offer a visual connection to Grant's meticulous logs. Each display Constance's tracking: Plymouth to Madeira (20-28 December 1882); Madeira to Cape Verde Islands (29 December 1882 to 5 January 1883); Cape Verde Islands to Montevideo, Uruguay (7 January to 3 February 1883); Montevideo to Sandy Point, Chile (8-16 February 1883); Sandy Point to Coquimbo (2-12 March 1883); Coquimbo to Callao, Peru (8-20 April 1883); Callao to Payta [Paita] (21-27 April 1883); Coquimbo to Pitcairn Island (20 February to 15 March 1884); Pitcairn Island to the Sandwich Islands, Hawaii (20 March to 13 April 1884); and Honolulu to Esquimalt, Vancouver (14-27 April 1884).

Lot number: Live Auction lot 47 Sale 16 July 2021, New York