CLIVE FARAHAR Catalogue 60

LIVINGSTONE MADAGASCAR & SLAVE PATROLS IN THE
INDIAN OCEAN.
64. DUNLOP (Martin Julius, R.N., Sub-Lieutenant 26th March 1862, Lieutenant 28th
August 1862) 1861-1865 bound manuscript volume, lettered on the upper cover ‘Journal’
with his name, page numbers and dates where appropriate lightly added in pencil, 318 pp., of
which over 100 are narrative, 8½” x 13½” oblong folio, leather, spine laid down, a little worn,
brass lock, lacking key, [12685] £3,500
Martin was the son of James Dunlop of Annanhill, a fine mansion built about 1800, still to be seen on
the west side of Kilmarnock. James added the neighbouring estate of Bonington in 1817, containing a
fine seam of coal. The property was inherited by Willian Henry Dunlop, eldest of James’ four sons.
Martin had an uncle William, Captain in the EIC service, (d. 1839), and an older brother Hamilton,
Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, mentioned in the journal. Martin’s mother was Mary Anne Haldane, a
friend of the poetess Joanna Baillie, and contributed to the latter’s ‘A Collection of Verses’, London,
1823.
Dunlop went into the Navy on 14th October 1853. When the journal opens at Plymouth, en route for
Portsmouth, he has just joined the Narcissus, 51, flagship of Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, posted to the
Cape of Good Hope as (supernumerary) Mate (signature and rank, p. 23). The previous 7th July 1860
he had joined the Royal Albert, 121, flagship in the Channel, as Acting Mate, and was clearly skilled,
ambitious and outspoken. In fact on 24th May 1861 he was placed under arrest after a “row about the
log” pp. 18 and 33). It took him a further year to become a commissioned officer, but his seniority was
then reckoned from 7th July 1860. Dunlop’s later promotions were: Commander 17th February 1874,
Captain 23rd June 1880, Rear-Admiral (retd.) 9th November 1895, Vice-Admiral (retd.) 15th June
1901. From 1889 to 1893 he was Captain of HMS Australia.
The Journal is far more than a diary. It is full of reflections on people and life, of wry humour or
indignation, of thumbnail sketches of people Dunlop admires or dislikes, but has to work with. He
wants to grasp and consolidate all his practical experience, career in mind, whether by the ship’s
meticulous logs, the more than 30 maps finely copied from Admiralty charts, to which he adds the noon
positions -- enhanced with a wreck here, a lighthouse there (represented by a candle), or the
approaches to harbours. He notes minute details of ships’ rigging and coal capacities (it is the age of
screw or paddle taking turns with sail), of rations and stores, and observes how officers handle people
and situations. He lists what every officer should be aware of: the chief poets from Shakespeare
onwards (no doubt an interest shared with his mother), the chief victories of his country, the nature and
history of the places he visits. The seasoned traveller, he makes pen drawings of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
and Madeira, seen off shore. He notes the regular day’s stages across Madagascar from East to West,
which are reckoned not mounted or on foot, but slung between two poles. There are many passages of
general comment on the state of the Navy, the reform of the Admiralty, of conversations with officers.,
and of flirtations by his colleagues with the Admiral’s daughters. But above all Dunlop is a seaman,
and loves nothing better than to record life at sea, in all its dangers and demands.
The diary and narrative sections run from 23rd February 1860 to 18th February 1864. Thereafter
Dunlop continued in Ariel, patrolling the South Indian Ocean, and finally reached England in
December 1864. His next post, briefly noted as ‘College’, (p. 71), was the Royal Naval College in
Portsmouth, borne on the books of HMS Excellent, the gunnery training vessel in Portsmouth Harbour
(31st March 1865).
Very useful for reference are:
pp. 61-62. “Places I have visited”. In date order are Place, Time and date of Arrival, Time and date
of Departure, Ship. First entry: Plymouth, Narcissus commissioned 19th Dec 1860. Last entry:
Simon’s Bay, 2nd January 1864.
pp. 67-91. “Officers under whom [and with whom] I have served”. These full tables run from admirals
down to petty officers and assistant clerks. Dunlop notes the ships and dates, adding “remarks” about
married state, fatal accidents, or further career.
Dunlop has collected over 160 signatures from successive ships, attractively grouped like random piles
of calling cards. Besides those noted in the Checklist are: