This detailed logbook, recording winds, courses, weather conditions and general observations, was kept by Robert Lewis, the master of the ship. On 29 July 1804, the 82-ton schooner ‘Juverna’ sailed from Liverpool with a cargo of salt bound for the Bight of Benin on the first leg of a slaving voyage that followed the classic ‘triangular’ pattern.

In a period of 14 weeks off the coast of West Africa, over 100 captives were loaded on to the ship, 19 of whom would perish on the Middle Passage. The ship then continued for Surinam in South America. Here her human cargo was exchanged for a cargo of coffee and cotton to be brought back to Britain.