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1864 NEW YORK TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA ROUTE LETTERS
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1864 NEW YORK TO CALIFORNIA VIA PANAMA ROUTE LETTERS
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Very interesting lot of (7) 1864 letters (34 pp. of text) with outstanding content from David J. Edwards, to his friend, George H. S. Driver in Boston, Massachusetts. Letters were written aboard Steamer ILLINOIS, crossing Panama, West Coast Steamer AMERICA, Sacramento and San Francisco, California. The original postal covers (stamps removed) are still present. They read, in part, as follows: [Steamer ILLINOIS - at Sea - Mch 14-18 1864; 14 pp. crammed with detail, in pencil] "... [15th] I am in my stateroom. T is one man with me -- quite a gentleman compared with a number that we have on board. T is no refinement whatsoever throughout the ship. The fare is not at all tempting, I assure you. When you look into the cooks 'galley' [&] )I think how it is prepared -- it is awful & ... turns your stomach. I do not know what to do with myself ... I have nothing to read. ... I think we shall have a storm ... I am quite dizzy now ... [18th] on the 16th was in bed most all day, was seasick a little ... affects my poor head so it aches ... 'cut if off? ... Oh, I shall be glad when this cruel voyage is over. I do not think that I ought to have come ... It was only yesterday that I got my trunk into my room. How glad I was to get it! ... We have been out of sight of land since Tuesday. We got into the Gulf Steam early yesterday AM ... Ther is a great deal of [sea] weed in it. called the Gulf weed [Sargassum] & the water looks a little differently. We are to stop at Kingston, Jamaica for coal ... Our captain is a man not at all pleasant ... He lives all to himself. We have the meanest set of passengers aboard ... & I really can't associate much with them ... They separate the steerage passengers from us. We can't go near them, nor they come near us. I think as much as I know of Irish hearts, I should find many warm hearts t ... The waiters [for mealtime] are all darkies ... [19th] We will pass Cuba this P.M. ... We passed ... Crooked Island Passage [Bahamas]. Thre was no trees ... on the islands, and all around them -- on the edge of the water -- was very white ... think it was sand ... We passed two sperm whales ... spouted water [sic] from their heads ... I am very fond of watching the sunset -- it is beautiful ..." [20th] Sunday on the water ... We passed Cuba. ... had a sermon this A.M. on deck ... by a Baptist minister. It was a very impressive sight ... the pulpit consisted of a beer barrel, topped by a hatch ... & overall was spread the American flag ... [23rd] We are within 200 miles of Aspinwall [Panama] ... shall be t tomorrow A.M. early. We shall remain t 4 or 5 days... waiting for the Str. on the other side [of the Isthmus].. .I want [to] ... end this horrid voyage ... very hot & t it will be worse & I am told it is a very unhealthy place & people get a fever t quite often. I think we shall be about 30 days before we arrive at San Francisco ... I want to tell you about Jamaica. We got ... a pilot -- colored one -- and proceeded to Kingston, the capital ... It is a very mountainous island and is very pretty ... Kingston ... is a splendid place. We stopped about 200 yards from the shore. The scenes were beautiful, the houses very low indeed., the coconut tree was the only one we could see. The city contains 45,000 inhabitants, composed for the most part of colored people. Colored men are the lawyers, judges & policemen of the place. T are some Englishmen & Spaniards on the island. We went in t ... for coal .. but the Rebel [meaning Confederate States] agent had bought up all t was & so we did not land. As soon as our Str. stopped in Kingston, we were surrounded with small boats & in each of these were divers ... asked ... for some silver, a dime or 5 cents, to be thrown into the water & they would dive after it ... this caused considerable fun at first -- but soon ... got 'played' out on the part of the passengers & they threw coppers, but they would not dive after them. 'Yah, Massa: me no dive for copper-- send dime, five pence, copper no use ... Some were naked ... this ...
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