The Log of the 'Demeter'
As there is no motive for concealment, I am permitted to use them, and accordingly send you a copy, simply omitting technical details. It almost seems as though the captain had been seized with some kind of mania before he had got well into blue water, and that this had developed persistently throughout the voyage.
Of course my statement must be taken cum grano, since I am writing from the dictation of a clerk of the Russian consul, who kindly translated for me, time being short.