PRUGNIERES (Pierre). Journal de navigation pour servir à moi, Prugnierer J[eune], Lieutenant on the ship Le Henri de Bordeaux, captain J. Lessenne, destined for the Cape on his first voyage, which began on 12 August 1770. Manuscript in-folio paperback, cover page calligraphed and stencilled, [32] f., [7] f.v., [3] p., [1] f.v. Manuscript on laid paper attributed to Pierre Prugnières (1745-1833) by his descendants. He was a ship's captain and merchant. The manuscript begins on Sunday 12 August 1770, when the ship "Le Henri" sailed from the port of Le Verdon; it ends on Friday 15 December 1772, back in sight of Pointe de l'Aiguillon. In the meantime, the ship had set course for Saint Domingue. Its captain, Jean-Amable Lessenne, had made a fortune in maritime trade, and was himself able to become the owner of a plantation in Saint-Domingue. His fortune enabled him to build an imposing château in the Rochelais countryside. Lieutenant Prugnières meticulously records the situation, weather conditions, manoeuvres adopted and navigational incidents (including ships and captains encountered, in particular the slave-trading ship La Duchesse de Grandmont, ornithological remarks, relations with the crew, etc.). After these 64 pages of navigation, a few blank leaves separate three other pages, written in the other direction of the notebook and which give information on some anchorages or passes: the Antioche Passage, the Breton Passage, the Grave Passage. Paper missing from the last blank page, small marginal tears and dust on the front cover, other minor defects.