Letter from William Henry Seward to Frances Adeline Seward, September 16, 1859

  • Posted on: 10 November 2021
  • By: admin
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Letter from William Henry Seward to Frances Adeline Seward, September 16, 1859
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transcriber

Transcriber:spp:nwh

student editor

Transcriber:spp:cnk

Distributor:Seward Family Digital Archive

Institution:University of Rochester

Repository:Rare Books and Special Collections

Date:1859-09-16

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Letter from William Henry Seward to Frances Adeline Seward, September 16, 1859

action: sent

sender: William Seward
Birth: 1801-05-16  Death: 1872-10-10

location:
Unknown

receiver: Frances Seward
Birth: 1844-12-09  Death: 1866-10-29

location: Auburn, NY

transcription: nwh 

revision: jxw 2021-02-09

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Page 1

5
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Editorial Note

William Henry Seward’s series of travel letters in 1859 are organized and listed by the date of each entry.
On board the Mah Brooka, Mediterranean
Friday Sept 17. 1859.
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Editorial Note

September 17, 1859 was a Saturday

My dear Fanny, As no steamboat would serve me for a fortnight, and I would
not so near relinquish a night of the Holy Land. I took passage yesterday together
with an English officer
Unknown
and my courier
Unknown
on board this vessel, a fruit boat belong-
ing to Jaffa the ancient Joppa. It is a cruise like my voyage to Labrador
but attended with much greater privations and inconveniences. The ship is
a schooner of about 20 tons, her name – "The Blest" is her only good trait.
There is the Captain
Unknown
and seven seaman all Roman Catholic Christian Arabs,
speaking the Arabic language only. Although we chartered the vessel exclusively
we were persuaded to let half a dozen of the Jaffa people go home
on her deck. The Captain crew and all are very civil and kind to
us. There are no berths, no beds, no tables, no provisions, no dishes. We
hastily extemporized our arrangements. A dozen chickens, a Bolognese Sausage
6 dozen eggs, with rice and bread and tea constitute our stores. Four
pieces of mattress matting laid two under us, one over us, and
one wrapped round the courier wrappe our serve for our beds, the
Cabin is filled with dry sand, for ballast, and ants cockroaches
& all kinds of vermin inhabit it we therefore sleep as well
as sit on the deck. The courier is our cook and waiter half
barrel is our table, but we do not approach it too near lest it may
expose us to vermin. For lack of chairs we sit down on the Deck
and screen ourselves from the sun as well as we can by the shade of
the sails. I am using my hat on my knee for a writing desk.
Scanty as our comforts are we are luxuriously appointed and served
compared with the other persons on board. They lie and sleep in sun or
shade – and eat I know not how or what. They prove themselves
to be not mussulum but Christians by having a cross on their ro-
saries, but in all else they are as veritable Arabs and the followers
of Islam could require – at least so they seem. The days are hot, the
nights delicious. The water blue and blood warm. The moon and stars
magnificent, and just now a fine breeze. The length of our voyage is
about 300 miles. We are a day out & as yet only fifty miles and
headed towards our destination. Wind & waves forbid my writing
more now
Truly