In Valentine’s Day Town, there are no star-crossed lovers, but there are many who seek guidance from the stars.

14 July, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 59°7 ′21″, bearing N
☽ true distance to ☉ 86°33′49″, local noon

Uneventful sailing. Met the Sugar; her captain tells me that a great expedition has set out overland to explore Mr. Jefferson’s purchase. She carried away a letter from our naturalist.

26 July, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 25°50′14″, bearing N
☽ true distance to ☉ 78°13′52″, local noon

Squalls. Met the Charlie; her captain tells me that Parliament has passed a villainous act to force British tea down our throats. She carried away four letters from our naturalist.

6 August, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 80°18′59″, bearing N
☽ true distance to ☉ 53°53′19″, local noon

Easy breeze. Met the Able; her captain tells me that Cook made land in Tahiti in time to observe the transit of Venus, which must carry great interest for all of us who sail by the stars. She carried away four letters from our naturalist. What a voluminous correspondence the man has!

16 August, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 59°54′29″, bearing S
☽ true distance to ☉ 59°19′51″, local noon

Light winds. Met the Nan; her captain tells me that the French have stormed their prisons. She carried away one letter from our naturalist.

20 August, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 43°35′31″, bearing N
☽ true distance to ☉ 66°41′30″, local noon

All’s well. Met the William; her captain tells me that Mr. Jay’s treaty is ratified, for good or ill. She carried away six letters from our naturalist, who must surely be near the end of his supply of ink.

4 September, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 60°28′41″, bearing S
☽ true distance to ☉ 74°14′7 ″, local noon

Topgallant gale. Met the Tare; her captain tells me that a very great force of ships has sailed from Boston to engage the British in the District of Maine. She carried away three letters from our naturalist.

6 October, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 57 °33′23″, bearing N
☽ true distance to ☉ 49°49′13″, local noon

Inclinable to calms. Met the Oboe; her captain tells me that Nelson has won a great victory in Egypt. She carried away fifteen letters from our naturalist. I wonder that he can find time to make his observations without disappointing his correspondents.

28 December, end of sea day
☉ true meridian altitude 75°6′34″, bearing S
☽ true distance to ☉ 82°29′26″, local noon

Not a breath of air stirring. Met the Easy; her captain tells me that all Falmouth is burnt, and many hundreds left homeless. She carried away two letters from our naturalist.


fritillated, as I’m sure you will agree. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Amblyrhynchus cristatus, in a nearly perfect state of preservation. No doubt you will

obduracy beggars belief. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Apteryx australis and am half tempted to make a pet of it—perhaps if I let it forage in the galley there would be fewer weevils in the ship’s biscuit. I fear the captain would not see the wisdom of this

xanthous, shading to umber. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Dryococelus australis, and had a job of it to convince my shipmates to let me bring it aboard—they thought it a horror. I confess I would not like to encounter it unawares myself, but even

familiar to you from your own voyages. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Lemur catta. What a bizarre structure sprouts from its mandible—you would say its mandibule

intertidal region. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Nesospiza acunhae. I cannot help but think that a careful study of its morphology, in comparison with that of its cousins, could shed considerable light on the questions that have long exercised the great learned

rufous coloration on the fin. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Oceanodroma monteiroi. How strange to think that a seabird should keep so close to home, as though flight

spinose creature. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Tupaia longipes. I have not yet had opportunity to investigate the structure of its foot but wonder whether the talus (you would say astragale, I think?) is particularly elongated, or the greater length distributed more

topography, rising above the sea. I’ve just collected a fascinating specimen of Urocyon littoralis. Quite remarkably delicate and finely made—you would not think it possible that