'Account of Mr George Don's Expenses during the Voyage'
Information
Title
'Account of Mr George Don's Expenses during the Voyage'
Record type
Archive
Original Reference
RHS/Col/2/2/11
Date
c.1823
Scope & content
George Don's accounts during the journey [for Don's versions of the accounts, c.Feb 1823, see RHS/Col/2/3/11-13]
Written in an unidentified hand
The accounts cover travel and work essentials (including bedding, towels, crockery, tools), refreshments, services (including guides, help in carrying boxes, washing), travel (including coaches, boats, mules) and accommodation (including inns, mess on board). Divided into the following sections according to location, including sum total after each section. Some of the sections have been combined: the entries for St Jago and Gambia have been combined with Madeira, the entries for Accra with Sierra Leone and the entry for Grand Cayman with Jamaica. Includes:
England, 13 Nov-30 Dec 1821: 'rope for roping a chest' 2s 6d, 'joining gunners' mess' £6, 'expenses through being left behind at Brixham between the 21+30 Dec' £5 6s 3d' [here the list includes 10 more entries]
Madeira [Portugal], 13-14 Jan 1822: 'paid for a horse to accompany Captain Sabine [Edward Sabine, geophysicist, naturalist and astronomer, brother of Joseph Sabine, secretary of the Horticultural Society of London] to the Peak Truro [Madeira, Portugal]' £1 6s, 'paid for washing sheets and towels' 4s 6d
St Jago [Santiago, Cabo Verde], 26 Jan 1822: 'paid for refreshment at St Jago Cape Verd Island' 3s 6d
Gambia [The Gambia], 3 Feb 1822: 'paid for refreshment at Bathurst St Mary's' 1s 4d
Sierra Leone, 22 Feb-11 Apr 1822: 'paid man on board the Iphigenia [HMS Iphigenia] for drying paper' 10s, 'paid for washing sheets & towels' 4s, 'paid for messing with the Governor's gardener, from 25 February' £3 [here the list includes 15 more entries]
Accra [Ghana], 30 Apr 1822: 'paid for the assistance of 2 men' 10s, 'paid for washing sheets & towels' 6s
St Thomas [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe], 18 May-11 Jun 1821: 'paid for specimens of fruits in the market' 2s 6d, 'paid for refreshments' 5s, 'paid for expenses incurred for help of men & otherwise' £1 11s 6d, 'paid for nails' 5s
Ascension [Ascension Island, British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha], 6-29 Jul 1822: 'paid to a marine for leading mule up & down the steepest parts of the mountain' 5s, 'paid for washing sheets & towels from the 17 May' 10s 8d
Bahia St Salvador [Salvador, Brazil], 5 Aug 1822: 'paid for mess on board' £4 10s, 'paid for men for carrying specimens when abroad' 14s, 'paid for boat hire at various times' 5s 3d, 'paid for wood purchased at St Thomas [Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe] for making boxes' £7 10s
Maranham [Maranhao, Brazil], 4-5 Sep 1822: 'paid for washing sheets & towels' 5s, 'paid for innkeeper's bill' 34 mill [million] 540 Rs [Brazilian real] or £9, 'paid to men for 5 days' attendance' 18s, 'paid for canoe hire to & from Bamfica [Benfica, Brazil]' 14s, 'paid for man acting as interpreter' £1
Trinidad [Trinidad and Tobago], 2-9 Oct 1822: 'paid for washing sheets & towels' 5s, 'paid for boat hire at various times' 10s, 'paid for boat hire' 5s
Jamaica, 18 Oct-4 Nov 1822: 'paid for refreshment at Kingston [Jamaica] & breakfast at the Hop Tavern, Port Royal [Jamaica]' 6s 6d, 'paid for a man for carrying plants etc' 5s, 'paid for horse hire for journey to the highest peak of Port Royal [Jamaica]' £4 19s [here the list includes 9 more entries]
Grand Cayman [Cayman Islands], 12 Nov 1822: 'paid to a man for the loan of a spade' 1s
Havana [Cuba], 22-26 Nov 1822: 'paid for coach hire to Don Antonio's' 10s, 'paid for supper & lodging at the inn' 5s, 'paid for negro for carrying boxes to the wharf' 2s 6d' [here the list includes 5 more entries]
New York [United States of America], 11 Dec 1822-6 Feb 1823: 'paid for passage from ship to New York by steam boat' 1s 9d, 'paid for boat from the steam boat to the ship' 4s, 'paid for 3 weeks' board & lodging at New York at 6 dollars per week' £4 1s [here the list includes 8 more entries]
Portsmouth, 6-7 Feb 1823: 'paid for boat ashore' 2s, 'paid for expenses at the inn' 8s, 'paid for coach to London' £1 5s, 'paid for coachman & guard' 2s