EAST MEETS WEST
Original Records of Western Traders, Travellers, Missionaries and Diplomats to 1852
Part 5: East India Company: Ship's logs, 1701-1851, from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
This is a valuable collection of 50 logbooks of East India Company ships detailing their voyages to China and India. These volumes remained the property of the writer (usually the mate or sometimes the Commander or the purser), so they never became part of the EIC archive. As such, they are a perfect complement to Part 4 of this series. They offer:
- Descriptions of the cities, scenery and sights of interest
- Descriptions of other EIC ships at ports of call
- Details of the cargo carried
- Information on contact with trading communities
- Lists of ships contacted during the voyage
- Living conditions on board
The logs are a rich source and provide scholars with a vivid portrait of life in the service of the East India Company of the Company's broad-ranging interests in Asia.
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