Close to equator
Monday 21st March 1864
By good luck we have today fallen into the E. trades Long 3 deg. N of the line. Captain stood champagne on account of his good luck in so doing.
22nd March
Wind is very light and it is dreadfully hot. The sun is now directly over our heads. I bath twice a day in spite of the sharks. Once about eleven in the morning and again at eleven at night before going to bed which I now do on deck. Bathing before you go to sleep keeps you cool all night. We bathe off the bow sprit and at night when no one is about off the quarter-deck, always keeping hold of a rope so that we could haul ourselves in directly we saw a shark
Crossing the equator
23rd March So frightfully hot that I cannot write anything. We are now at the equator (at least eleven miles south of it). Expect to see Neptune tonight but the Captain has just told us that he does not intend to allow the shaving and tarring as it creates so much bad feeling. Am very sorry for it.
The ritual performed on sailing ships when crossing the equator is known as "crossing the line" ceremony. This tradition dates back several centuries and was especially popular among sailors in the British Royal Navy and merchant ships. > > During the ceremony, sailors who had never crossed the equator before were often called "Pollywogs." Those who had previously crossed were referred to as "Shellbacks." As the ship approached the equator, a festive celebration would be organized to mark the occasion. > > Typically, the ritual involved a series of humorous and often elaborate trials. Participants might be doused with water, covered in grease or paint, and subjected to good-natured hazing. They would perform various acts before a figure representing King Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, and his entourage. > > Once the initiation rites were completed, the Pollywogs were officially "transformed" into Shellbacks. They would often receive a certificate or some form of recognition to commemorate their crossing. This ceremony not only served to bond the crew but also to create a sense of tradition and camaraderie among sailors.
24th Becalmed
It is now a calm - the water as smooth as butter, the deck as hot as fire - and not a breath of air. Juno is lying with her head on my knee asleep under the awning. I find her a great companion.
Friday 25th Still a calm. Lat.1 16S.
Sat 26th Shark Catch
Saw several pilot fish about. They are the fish that always attend the shark. We bathed although the Captain said most likely there was a shark about. We had been swimming just a little ahead of the vessel as it was quite calm but kept close hold of a rope and had a man on the yard to look out for sharks - five of us were in the water. We ad not all been dressed more than a quarter of an hour when a large shark came from under the vessel's bottom, where I have not the slightest doubt he had been all the time we were bathing. The shark hook had been baited this morning with a piece of pork and as soon as he saw it he just swum around it once, rolled over snd took it into his gills - the Captain paid out the line to give him time to swallow it - and then twelve of us, the men and passengers, hailed on it. It took all twelve to haul him up on the side. A sailor then passed a bowline over his tail, made it fast to a luff tackle and then hauled him on board. As soon as he was over the bulwarks there was a general rush out of the way. He smashed the skylight all to shivers with his tail. He could have broken a man's leg without the least exertion. One of the men then cut his tail off with a cut fro an axe. We then stabbed him to death. I asked for the head and got it. I then skinned it, cut out the jaws and had the cook boil them as the Captain said that was the best way to take the flesh off. However the cook boiled them too much which spoiled them as they become almost jelly, but I have kept the teeth, one fin and the skin which I took off the head. I will send one of the teeth and a piece of the skin home to you when I get to Natal.
