Beschreibung:

CAPTAIN DUDLEY'S SEXTANT FROM THE ILL-FATED YACHT MIGNONETTE, CIRCA 1875/1883 unsigned, the 7½in. radius brass 'A' frame vernier sextant with silvered scale divided to 120º, arc numbered '2258', vernier with tangent-screw adjustment and swivel magnifier, telescope arbor, mirrors, seven shades, wooden handle and pin feet, contained in original keystone box, the lid inscribed internally in pencil: Lat. Long. Tuesday 24º57 11º20 Wednesday 24º50 11º50 Thursday 24º33 12º40 Friday 24º10 ---- Saturday 24º02 15º-- Sunday 23º57 16º50 Monday 23º54 18º10 Tuesday 23º52 19º10 Wednesday 23º38 20º00 To whoever picks this up / Sunday July 20th PM / We Thomas Dudley Edwin Stevens, / Edmund Brookes & Richard Parker / the crew of the Yacht Mignonette which / foundered on Saturday the 5th. of July, have / been in our little dinghy 15 days. We have / neither food or water and are greatly reduced / We suppose our Latitude to be 25º South our Longditude / 28ºW May the Lord have mercy upon us / please forward this to Southampton. Overall measurements -- 10 x 11in. (25.5 x 28cm.); together with a copy of 'The Custom of the Sea' by Neil Hanson in which the full account of the Mignonette and her crew is given. (2) Provenance: Moghul Antiques, Adelaide, South Australia (acquired from a deceased estate in Sydney); purchased by vendor from Moghul Antiques,1973. The loss of the cutter yacht Mignonette and the subsequent fate of her crew must rival any of the greatest tales of woe upon the ocean and divided a shocked Victorian public when the full, gruesome details became public knowledge in the ensuing inquest. The Mignonette was a 20 ton cruising yacht built in 1867 and at only 52 feet long, was designed for inshore sailing rather than any longer, more challenging voyages. She was bought in 1883 by John Want, an Australian lawyer who arranged, after some difficulty, with Tom Dudley (the captain) and three crew - Edwin Stephens; Edmund Brooks; and Richard Parker the cabin boy, to take on the 15,000 mile voyage from Southampton to Sydney, Australia. Parker was 17 years old and an inexperienced seaman. Departing on 5th May, all was well until two months later on 5th July whilst heaving to about 1,600 miles off the Cape of Good Hope, a rogue wave smashed away a bulkhead and the yacht sank within five minutes. Scrambling into the flimsy open dingy, whose ¼in. planks were holed in the haste to depart, the shocked crew only had time to grab this sextant, a chronometer, and two tins of turnips - no water. On 9th July a turtle was spotted and sustained them for several days, but by 17th July the possibility of drawing straws to be sacrificed was being discussed. It seems that the condition of Richard Parker the young cabin boy, was such that his fate was sealed and, on or near to the 24th July, Edwin Stevens cut his jugular vein so they could drink his blood, killing him. Feeding off his body for the next few days, on 29th July a sail was spotted and the German barque Montezuma rescued them and secured the dinghy. Delivering the survivors to Falmouth on the 6th September, candid statements were given to the authorities in the mistaken belief that they were protected by a "Custom of the Sea". As no such custom had been created in law, these statements formed the basis of the evidence against them in a trial that began on 3rd November. Public opinion swung firmly behind the unfortunate seamen, however a young and ambitious barrister called William Danckwerts was determined to make use of his previous success in wreck law and pursue a conviction of Murder on the High Seas. In effect, this became Britain's last trial for Cannibalism at sea. In the event, Brooks was acquitted, but Dudley and Stephens were found guilty and sentenced to death. The public outcry was such however that this was commuted to six months imprisonment. After the trial was over, John Want offered Dudley a new start in Australia and he opened a chandlery in Sydney, presumably taking this sextan