Somewhat nonplussed to read the ship's muster roll and see that I was listed as "Mrs John Hindmarsh". Probably a slip of the pen, but I suspect some prankish trick by one of the crew. When I pointed out the error to Mrs Hindmarsh she merely remarked that if I was Mrs John Hindmarsh then I might not spend so much time chasing the ladies. A calumny!
The whole thing seems even more ridiculous when I discovered that, with Mrs Hindmarsh's approval, Mary-Jane Murray is to accompany us on the voyage. In fact it is Mrs Hindmarsh who has arranged Mary-Jane's passage on the Buffalo. As we will be living on not much more than salt meat and sauerkraut - which I loathe with a passion - for the next six months the whole business of a decent breakfast becomes of no importance anyway, so perhaps Mrs Hindmarsh has arranged for Mary to be present on the voyage just to taunt me. Could she be that cruel? Well, yes, obviously.
Mrs Hindmarsh has provided me with a Steward - a manservant - called Adams, as she will not trust me with the choice of a housekeeper, saying "You will no doubt get some silly hussy ripe for your debauchery", a charge I utterly reject.
A slight contretemps when we arrived. The Fisher family had arrived before us and had taken the larger set of cabins, since there are only six of us and seemingly countless numbers of Fishers and their children (was the man cross bred with a rabbit?). "They didn't think", they said, "that we would have any objection to their having the larger cabins since they needed the room for their children." After a free exchange of views, in which Mrs Hindmarsh made it clear what she thought of their opinions and that she did indeed have objections the Fishers quickly moved to the smaller accommodation.
Not, perhaps, the ideal start to a relationship with someone I will need to have a close working relationship with, but I am sure that Mr Fisher is not one to bear a grudge.
I expect to see Sir John Jeffcott join us on board presently. He will be travelling out with us before taking up the position of Judge for the colony and I expect to use the time available with him on the journey to plot out some legal aspects of the new settlement.
In the afternoon I needed to deal with ships business and also move the animals in. I have brought a number of animals to take to the new colony. The dogs, naturally; a cow; some pigs; some geese; ducks; several turkeys and, at Mrs Hindmarsh's insistence, a hive of bees.
I did try and explain to her that the one thing bees need are flowers, which are, strangely, in short supply on the open ocean. Her answer was to take a few pots of primulas and love in a mist. I have no intention of turning the Buffalo into a floating plant nursery. The last man mad enough to do that was Bligh with his breadfruit and I think we all know how that worked out.
Truth to tell, if Mr Fisher was cross bred with a rabbit then Mrs Hindmarsh was probably cross bred with a rhinoceros. So when the Fishers announced that they were going ashore to the Isle of Wight to stay the night "so they wouldn't be in anyone's way" (I detected a note of satire) her hide was thick enough to ignore the dark looks and mutterings when she announced that she would accompany them "for the shopping".
For the shopping? Where in God's name is there anywhere on the Isle of Wight to do shopping? I seem to remember going ashore there and having trouble finding anyone to sell me a pint of ale. Still, if there is anywhere to spend money on the Isle of Wight I am sure that Mrs Hindmarsh will search it out and double their yearly profit.
Besides, I am treading softly around Mrs Hindmarsh at present after the business with Mary-Jane, so if a shopping trip keeps her happy then who am I to say no?
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