Hello All, Here's a query for the experts who know about such things. A month or so back I found the ship that my ancestors came to Australia on back in 1857. It was 'Invincible' of The Black Ball Line out of Liverpool. I established through other means that my 'great great grandmother' gave birth to a baby during the voyage. The "Born At Sea' Birth Certificate detailed the date of birth and the co-ordinates as being 9'8 S and 32'29 W. So I 'fired up' Google Earth to see exactly where it was and was staggered to find that the given co-ordinates were not far off the coast of Brazil. I thought they must have been wrong or I was not reading them correctly and left it at that. I then was fortunate to find (at the National Library Of Australia) a diary written by a female passenger on the Invincible on that exact voyage. Unfortunately the passenger who wrote the diary was travelling in 'Cabin Class' and not 'Steerage' so it was not really reflective of my ancestors journey, but a fascinating and eye opening read just the same. However in the journal she made mention of an island group which they travelled close to . . . "we were within 20 miles of an island called Terando Noronba, off the coast of South America, the northern portion of which is exactly the shape of a church with a very high steeple" . . Back to Google Earth I went to find this island, and found (slightly different spelling) 'Fernando de Noronha' just a small distance due north of where the birth apparently took place, (and within 'spitting distance' of Brazil!) My (very long winded) query is . . "What In The Bloody Hell Were They Doing Off The Coast Of South America When They Were Sailing From England To Australia??" I'm sure there's a logical explanation but it's got me beat! Anybody got any thoughts? By the way there was a small mention in her diary about a birth on board in Steerage. Cheers Graeme Melbourne, Australia