Littler (Sir John Hunter, 1783-1856). 'Diaries of Sea Voyages in 1824 & 1826' [cover-title]. Manuscript in brown ink on laid paper (watermarked C Wilmott 1814'), 44 ff. + initial blank, 360 x 235 mm, approx. 35-40 lines to the page, contemporary card covers (inscribed on front 'Lt. Genl. Sir John Hunter Littler G.C.B.') detached, spine perished, many leaves loose (qty: 1)

Provenance: James Tregaskis (1850-1926), bookseller (with clipped catalogue description, price £1 10 0).

Sir John Hunter Littler was a decorated East India Company army officer best remembered for his actions in the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845-6). 'At the close of the campaign he was appointed to command at Lahore. In 1848 he was appointed to the supreme council of India, and was made GCB and deputy governor of Bengal' (ODNB), retiring in 1851 as lieutenant-general. At the time of these voyages he held the rank of major. The first is from Calcutta to England (January-June 1824) on the ship Palmire, and the second is the return voyage from Gravesend to India on the Malcolm under one Captain Eyles (though the diary ends on 20 October 1826 before landfall is made, three months after setting out in June). In daily entries there is substantial description of conditions, wildlife sightings (including gannets, albatrosses, flying fish, porpoises, dolphins, sperm whales), on-board accidents and repairs, and encounters with other ships. The Palmire rounds the Cape of Good Hope on 24 March, shortly after which Littler is set ashore at Jamestown, St Helena ('Whilst Mr Harvey transacted business with Mr Solomon's House, Capt. S. & myself strolled about the town - being Sunday all shops were shut, & very few of the inhabitants visible'); on 24 April he visits Ascension and provides an extensive (4 pp.) description of the island's topography, the British garrison and a recent outbreak of yellow fever. The return journey includes a landfall at Funchal (10 July) and a detailed account of an affray between three private soldiers (12 July), about which Littler reflects that 'these petty disputes amongst the men which almost always commence by playing & jesting with each other, leading to practical jokes & terminating in blows, might be prevented by the non commission'd officers if timely noticed & check'd'.