[Manuscript/Asian Travel Diary] Travel diary for woman visiting Far East in 1932.
Female diarist travels from Pittsburgh by train to Seattle, then to Asia on the ship President Taft, with stops at Tokyo, Yokohama, Moji-Ku and Swatow. Favorable commentary about Hong Kong. While in Asia, she travelled on the Nanei Maru (later a Japanese army ship sunk by the American sub Angler in the North Sulu Sea, 1944). Topics covered include food, buildings, railroad travel, dress, funerals, etc., as applicable. Beginning of the handwritten portion includes a list of fellow passengers and summaries of her impressions of the places visited. (“Japan- clean, queer smell of cooking… Impressions of China- filth, awful smells, garlic, bound feet/ Architecture like Egypt, spitting landscape the same-feathering trees rather like Corot, Rocky mts. Sleep anywhere. Shanghai cosmopolitan, large buildings… Chingmai-lovely mts. Very green, log jam blue penungs, people very clean & polite…” Lengthy description of Bangkok and Buddhist temples. “Saw sacred white elephants. Drive to train…. Houses built up on sticks…” Then on to Siam, Colombo, and Bombay. After Calcutta, “Drink the water. Ugh! Priests sit under umbrellas. Dead buffaloes, pigs, dogs, humans in the river. Saw corpses burned, men in white, women in red. Filthiest, foulest, dirtiest place ever encountered. Drive out to Sarnath- Buddhist ruins & temple lovely & clean…” Her vivid characterizations include fellow passengers. “Capt. Stringer-attractive looking except for chin. Thanks himself for what he is- soul of kindness, good fun. Miss Mason- Missionary from Cairo- Bore! Captain Maccennty-roaring drunk.” May 20 - Sep. 28, 1932.
Handwritten portion [126]pp. 12mo. Text is preceded by a brief printed text, MY TRIP ABROAD, NY: Edward J. Cardigan, (1929), 30pp, 3 color plates (2 nonfolding plates of flags and 1 folding map, partly split along fold and brittle). Text covers time zones, currency, etc. Orig leather. Largely disbound, minor handling wear. 1.0 Lb.