Abstract: Journal of the voyage of the East India Company ship the
Loyal Cooke(written in the journal as the Loyall Cooke) from England to China, Madras [Chennai] and Bengal (Captain Richard Bolton), 4 February 1703/4 to 12 October 1707. The
Loyal Cookedeparted from the Downs on 4 February 1703/4, and the journal covers the ship's visits to the following destinations (dates are those of arrival): 23 June 1704, Batavia [Jakarta]; 8 August 1704, Emoy [Xiamen]; 20 February 1704/5, Malacca; 29 April 1705, Madras; 27 July 1705, Ballasore [Balashore]; 9 October 1705, Calcutta [Kolkata]; 29 January 1705/6, Callicutt [Kozhikode]; 31 March 1706, Gombron [Bandar-e ʻAbbās]; 18 July 1706, Madras; 10 January 1707, Cape Bona Esprance [Cape of Good Hope]; 8 September 1707, Texell [Texel]; 12 October 1707, Deptford.The main part of the journal is a log book containing daily entries (although not for every day of the voyage) in seven columns: [Latitude by Observation, Latitude by Account, and Meridian Distance from a stated location], H [Hour], K [Knots], F [Fathoms], Courses, Winds, and a final column containing the date, remarks, and navigational observations. When the ship is at anchor the entries consist of remarks only. Information provided by these notes includes observations of weather and currents, sightings of land or other vessels, employment of the crew, and other miscellaneous remarks.The entries are double-dated, providing the dates in both Julian and Gregorian calendars.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description (used for referencing) commences at f 1, and terminates at f 130; it is part of a larger physical volume of different shelfmarks in which this shelfmark has been given its own separate foliation sequence, i.e. non-consecutive; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.