On board the Ship Governor Morton

The journal documents the journey on the clipper ship Governor Morton from March 12, 1852 to July 15, 1852 from New York to San Francisco around Cape Horn. The journal is a personal narrative, including some navigational data such as the weather and knots as well as a few entries concerning marine life (whales, sharks, flying fish), but most of the entries are dedicated to life on the ship. The quality of the food, homesickness, and the cruelty of the captain are frequent topics. The journal contains a list of the second cabin passengers including such details as name, age, occupation, and city and state from which they hailed. After the author disembarked in San Francisco, he used the journal as an account book for his wages and to list the tools he bought for his trade as a carpenter.