NOTES:
Image of the title page of Lewis Monto's manuscript whaling journal for his 1830-1834 voyage as cooper on the Nantucket whale ship Plough Boy, Nathan Chase, commander. This voyage lasted 1,257 days or 3 years, 5 months and 10 days.
Entries in the journal usually consist of shorthand phrases running one after another. In the transcription line breaks mark the end of such phrases. Punctuation in the manuscript is almost nonexistant. Frequently entries are divided by the three parts of the nautical day (12 noon to 12 noon the day following) -- Fore, Middle and Latter.
Generally the transcription follows Monto's spelling. His many abbreviations are spelled out in full in italics. A question mark follows words where the transcriber was unsure of Monto's original.
The journal itself is now in the collections of the Nantucket Historical Association, Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA.
Last updated by Tom Tyler, Denver, CO, USA, September 9, 2018.
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