Revised Jun 21 2021
The time-keeper, or chronometer, had been, previously to this, twice carried out by Captain Cook, in his voyages of discovery. In 1776, when the Resolution was in the course of equipment for her voyage, "The Board of Longitude put into the possession of Captain Cook, and Mr. King, his second lieutenant, the time-keeper which Captain Cook had carried out in his last voyage, and which had performed so well. It was constructed by Mr. Kendall, and was a copy of Mr. Harrison's."*
∗ Captain Cook's Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, in 1766, vol. i. p. 3. Ed. 1784.
This time-keeper was taken out again by Captain Bligh in 1787; and, after the mutiny on board the Bounty, was carried by the mutineers to Pitcairn's Island. According to Mayhew Folger's statement, it was in the possession of the governor of Juan Fernandez in 1808. It was afterwards sold in Chili; and subsequently came into the possession of Alexander Caldcleuch, Esq., of Valparaiso, of whom Captain Herbert, K.N. (now Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert) purchased it, in 1840, for fifty guineas. That officer, who then commanded the Calliope, had the instrument repaired at Valparaiso, took it with him to China, and, in 1843, brought it home in the Blenheim. It was exhibited in the Royal Institution, Albemarle-street, in 1844.
It is six inches in diameter, with three dials on its face; one for hours, one for minutes, and one for seconds; with a massive outer silver case, made as the outer cases of pocket watches were, eighty or ninety years since; so that its appearance is that of a gigantic watch. It has "Larcum Kendall, London," inscribed on the face. The same name, and the date, A.D. 1771, are engraved inside. It is at present in the United Service Museum, Scotland-yard, Whitehall-place, London, Sir Thomas Herbert having presented it to that institution. This chronometer is an object of exceeding interest to those who view it with reference to its history, in connexion with the Resolution and the Bounty. The author will, therefore, be forgiven for his minuteness on the subject of this relic.