Manuscripts

An account of voyage on S.S. "Eurydamus" as surgeon from Liverpool to Seattle

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Description: Beginning with the departure of the S. S. Eurydamus from Liverpool in March 1923, this journal recounts the experiences of an unnamed individual who is employed as the doctor aboard this freighter. It includes substantial descriptions of the passage through the Panama Canal as well as the doctor's experiences and observations while ashore in Los Angeles, Hollywood, San Francisco, Victoria BC, Vancouver BC, and Seattle and Tacoma. The doctor also writes about prohibition, Chinese people in California, and anti-Asian immigration laws.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1923 March 17-July 7.
Call number: mssHM 83441
Provenance: Purchased from Voyager Press Rare Books & Manuscripts, February 2018.
Dimensions: 25 cm :

William H. Dougal journal of a voyage from New York to San Francisco

Manuscripts

This manuscript describes the journey of William H. Dougal, an engraver and artist, who traveled from New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn in 1849, as a passenger aboard the ship "Galindo." Much of the seabound content concerns the weather. Dougal goes ashore in Chile on November 17 and describes the land and its people. He is particularly impressed with the horsemanship of the Chileans. The final date listed is November 22, where Dougal reports the ship is eight miles from San Francisco. Published as "Off for California" (RB 277286), of which this manuscript appears to be a printer's copy. Typescript from original held by San Mateo Historical Society. Includes 20 photographs of drawings by the author, some with typewritten captions on verso, and a seven-page typescript likely intended to be included in the published version.

mssHM 50579

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My Journey from San Francisco to Liverpool 1872 L.F

Manuscripts

The first 32 pages of the diary relate to the overland part of the journey as the author, probably a young woman, and her mother leave San Francisco to travel to New York by train. The author comments upon her stays in Ogden, Omaha, and Chicago, and her first views of Niagara Falls. The last 10 pages concern their ocean voyage to England. Throughout the entire journey, the author relates detailed stories of her travel companions and their experiences. The initials "L. F." are stamped on the cover and may be the author's initials

mssHM 63952

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Letter from an unknown British naval surgeon to "My Dear Parents & Brothers,"

Manuscripts

This 6-page letter details the experiences and adventures of an unidentified British former naval surgeon who was in Oahu in 1845 after several years of traveling (apparently it had been many years since he had written home). The author starts with his time in Peru where he served in the Peruvian Army under President Augustin Gamarra in his offensive against the armies of Chile and Bolivia; he also talks about Antonio de la Fuente. He details his experience in the army, battles fought, the harsh conditions, famine, bad weather, treating wounded soldiers, etc. He also describes in some detail the cities of Lima, Arequipa and Callao, Peru. The author left Callao on a ship for Monterey, California where he was appointed "Physician General" of the army by Juan Bautista Alvarado. After four years in California, the author joined a French vessel on a journey to Kamchatka and Siberia; he describes in detail his experiences there as well as the harsh conditions met by the crew. The author then went to Oahu and most recently had been appointed surgeon to the British ship Emma. The letter ends with a list of greetings to family and friends back in England. The letter is incomplete and unsigned.

mssHM 70392

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The tattooed man : a tale of strange adventures befalling Tod Moran, mess boy of the tramp steamer "Araby," upon his first voyage from San Francisco to Genoa, via the Panama Canal

Rare Books

Teenaged Tod goes in search of his missing older brother. He takes a job as a cabin boy, and later stoker on a freighter out of San Francisco bound for Genoa. An interesting story because of the vividly realistic portrayal of life aboard tramp freighters in the inter-war years.

654919

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Account of a voyage from New York to California in 1852

Manuscripts

This manuscript is Samuel Goodman's 1861 recollection of his 1852 journey to California. In his opening lines, he writes that he "with hundreds of others blindly went forth to unknown regions impelled and urged onward by the Strange Excitement caused by the discovery of Gold in that Country." He departed from New York in January 1852 with his oldest son, aboard the ship Prometheus, bound for Nicaragua. Once arrived, it was discovered that the ship they were to take for the next part of their journey, the Central America, had been run aground, so they traveled by foot to Mexico. They went by ship the rest of the way, on board a charter ship from San Francisco by the name of Northern Light, arriving in California at the end of May. Goodman and his son take to the country and begin searching for gold. He ponders the mentality and circumstances of the California gold miner. He eventually gives up mining and spends two years "acting as Magistrate and Post Master" in Sierra County, and obtained shares in quartz and granite mining operations. He writes in detail of the various mining processes, and also relates the "Story of Logan," whom he calls "the Prince of the Mines."

mssHM 50578

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Captain's log for the H.M.S. Blonde's voyage to the Sandwich Islands

Manuscripts

The volume is Byron's handwritten daily account of the H.M.S. Blonde's voyage from England to Hawaii and from Hawaii back to Valparaíso, Chile (June 10, 1824 to November 19, 1825). Byron records longitude and latitude, distance traveled, weather conditions, bearings, and barometer/thermometer readings. Along with those details, Byron records the daily activities and repairs on the ship, the punishments of sailors for various grievances, trading of supplies with other ships, and ports visited including Rio de Janeiro, Cape Horn, and Valparáiso. Byron also notes activities after the ship's arrival in Hawaii including the bodies of the Hawaiian royals taken ashore, his visits from King Kamehameha III and Queen Kaahumanu, the completion of the first monument for Captain James Cook, and the discovery of Malden Island.

mssHM 64596

An account of voyage on S.S. "Eurydamus" as surgeon from Liverpool to Seattle

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William H. Dougal journal of a voyage from New York to San Francisco

My Journey from San Francisco to Liverpool 1872 L.F

Letter from an unknown British naval surgeon to "My Dear Parents & Brothers,"

The tattooed man : a tale of strange adventures befalling Tod Moran, mess boy of the tramp steamer "Araby," upon his first voyage from San Francisco to Genoa, via the Panama Canal

Account of a voyage from New York to California in 1852

Captain's log for the H.M.S. Blonde's voyage to the Sandwich Islands