July 24, 1834
During the night and in the morning, very light but favorable wind. Very beautiful weather, [with] calm, dark-blue seas. At midmorning, a little more wind: five knots. [At] twelve o’clock noon, latitude 41°14′, longitude 58°10′.
In the afternoon we saw a fisherman to the north; we were not far south of the banks of Newfoundland.
On deck, the game of shuffle [shuffleboard] is played.
There are two parties, each of the same number. Always two play against each other. Each party has four round disks, 4 to 5 inches in diameter and about 1 inch thick. Each party marks [their disks] differently. On deck a quadrangle is drawn about 25 to 30 paces [long], divided into squares approximately 4′ by 4 1/2′. The round disks are thrown toward this grid, or actually pushed individually across the flat surface, and each player executes his throws one after the other. As soon as he has pushed off his four disks, his opponent does the same, and so on, alternating turns. The numbers are written down, but it counts only if the disk does not land touching a line.
The evening was pleasant; the ship made about six knots [then and] also during the whole night; the wind was always favorable [and from the] northwest and north.