An idle day at the start - I thought to stay abed into the morning but my captain was about well before I and the ship was far from quiet enough to allow me to remain asleep as long into the morning as I had hoped. I have spent much of the day since arranging my paint and watercolor supplies and organizing some of my research materials into a fashion that I might be able to write about them coherently. It seems a quite daunting task that I am not entirely certain where to begin – there are so many subjects upon which I make a more complete study though it is obvious that I cannot give equal weight to every topic in science – meteorology, wind and waves, zoology, botany, geology, physics… I will focus on that of which I know more – the biological sciences, with some observations such as I can make on other topics. In particular, I wish to make a detailed study of the Air Kraken, as it is a species most peculiar, and other species as we come across them, be they marine, terran, or avian.
In addition I have spent a portion of the day reading the published works of great naturalists, including Mr. Darwin’s journals from his travels aboard the Beagle, Mr. Roberts’ Daybook on Meteorology, Phrenology, and Rural Biology, and the Country Diary of Lady Edith Holden among others that I might discover through their works how I might focus and approach my own studies. Mr. Darwin’s work is of course much known through his monumental book so I need say little of his research. I much admire Lady Holden’s intermingling of her paintings into her work – she has marked skill with the watercolor brush - but I think Mr. Robert’s book may be perhaps a little too dry to use as a model, as it is often merely a recording of meteorological conditions and a listing of what is blooming without discussion and I am perhaps too much of an artist to appreciate such formal approach for my own work though as a data source his work is quite solid.
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