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Suriname

First mate’s logbook

In the morning a gentle topgallant sail breeze came from ESE and the weather was good. At dusk we raised anchor and set sail. We headed for SW to the shore till on 3½ 1 fathom = 6 feet (170 cm)fathoms. We saw a corner to SW of us, and then we sailed along the shore to this corner to a depth of 2½ fathoms. Then, we sailed for WNW but did not see an opening. At noon we again hit a depth of 3 to 3½ fathoms. The first corner was to SE by E, and we saw a big opening that stretched to SE by S. When The length of the watches was measured using an hourglass filled with sand. Each watch consisted of 8 half-hour glasses, marked by bells. 3 glasses in the afternoon had run out we hit a depth of 4 fathoms. Today a female slave passed away, No.25. Later in the afternoon we kept a depth of 4½ to 4 fathoms, and at dusk we got a depth of 3½ fathoms. We sailed for NW by W and hit a depth of 4 fathoms. When 6 glasses in the dog watches had run out we anchored at 4 feet of mud. At night we had a weak breeze from E. When 5 glasses in the middle watch had run out a ship passed us that sailed for W. It stayed this way until the morning.