Ship ‘PASS of LENY’an iron barque, 1316 tons.
Sailed from Glasgow in July 1891 bound for Honululu by Cape Horn. Made all most a record passage – 114 days. The Strath Blane left Glasgow a few weeks a head of us. We thought we would overtake her at Honululu but she left a week before we arrived bound for Portland in Oregon. We heard before we left Honululu that she was lost a little north of the Bar. Went ashore on a sandy beach all lost, but there was only one house where she went ashore. It happened the man belonging to the house was from home, but his wife and children were in the house, so she was hearing the noise. There was so many of the men on each mast but the masts went one after the other. At day light she ventured down and found the three men but could do nothing for them. She gave them some thing that brought them to. There were to Swedes and an Inverness fellow the name of John Paterson. I was speaking to him. So the woman turned out to be a Mrs White belonging to Glasgow. Paterson had promised to go to see her brother when he would go to Glasgow. When we got the paper she was called the second Grace Darling and got reward. This same John Paterson was in the Anchor Line ‘Utopia’. When she went down in Gibraltar with 800 passengers he was saved but he didn’t know how. The ship was coming to anchor and drifted a cross the bows of one of the war ships.
Now we got to Portland four of left the ship there. We were about a fortnight ashore. Then we joined a big Liverpool ship called the ‘Aigburth’ bound for Antwerp. 140 days passage. The crew were half black and half white. One morning a quarrel got up between a Swede and An Irish man. So one of the Blacks took the Swedes part but the Irish man knocked the Black out. When the other Blacks saw this they got their knifes out, on deck the watch facing the other. The Bo'sun went to the Chief Officer and asked him for his revolver so that put an end to the big row.
Rounding the Horn we shipped a sea and stoved in the main hatch and damaged 400 tons of wheat. It was a very narrow show with us.
I could almost write a book if I would only sit down to it.
When I stayed in Brisbane,who came in but a Chinamanselling little things. I happened to drop my cash in his basket, when I was paying him. So I forgot all about the purch[purse]. So the Chinaman wins - away with my £5. But it wasn't long till I heard him coming back with the purch in his hand asking was it mine. So I gave him 2/6 and went away quite happy.[Transcription of handwritten notes by Angus McPherson below]