Captain Bond's diary is hand written in 24 blank pages of a bound 1850 Belchers Farmer's Almanack, printed by James Bowes & Sons, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is written on the blank pages, and sometimes in the blank areas of printed pages. It is, for the most part, quite legible. It details the log of the 7 month journey from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia around the Horn to San Francisco on board the Brig Zone, arrivingin San Francisco Bay in late June. The short log primarily provides details on weather and sailing directions. It also includes elevation sketches of Guamas, and Santa Rosa Island. Bond tells of a trip up the Sacramento River and down the Pacific Coast to Guaymas, Mexico and Charles Island in the Galapagos.

Joseph Bingay Bond, arrived in New York early in the 18th century from Chester, England. The Bond family fled to Nova Scotia at the time of the American Revolution. Joining the company of many other Loyalists, or supporters of the British Crown, the Bonds settled in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Joseph Bond worked in the China shipping trade and his seafaring years helped prepare him for his journey to California around the Horn. Eventually he settled in Sacramento and married into the Pope family. The diary was passed down to the donor's husband in the 20th century.

1.0 folder 1 bound diary containing 24 pages of handwritten entries and sketches.

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Collection open for research