1903-1904 JOURNAL OF A NAVAL CRUISE TO THE “FAR EAST”: Diary - Scrapbook - Travel Journal

[Maritime][Travel] Journal-Scrapbook of a Cruise of the U. S. S. Raleigh. [1903-1904]. Green boards with tan cloth spine. Lined paper. 30 x 20 cm. Illustrated. 174 pp. Some pages are loose, but writing is legible. Very good. Approximately 112 pages of handwritten entries. Also 5 pp. lists of ports showing the mileage sailed that are laid in. In addition there are approximately 62 pages of newspaper and magazine clippings, with some original photographs tipped in. Kept by a member of the ship's crew who was an educated observer.

U. S. S. Raleigh was a United States Navy "protected cruiser" (with an armored deck) of the Cincinnati class, commissioned in 1894 and in periodic service until 1919. It was part of the "Asiatic Fleet" during this cruise. The author is educated and knowledgeable about history and geography.

This journal describes briefly the refitting of the ship in Portsmouth [N.H.] "There was a number of unpleasant weeks before the ship was in living shape, but gradually things glided into their proper places a routine was formed and everything put into ship shape style…" In February her first "sea trip" was down to NY for 23 days of repairs and taking on stores. "On the morning of March 18, 1903 we left God, country and home, for a cruise that would take us to many a foreign port." He describes passing under the "great bridge which was crowded with hustling people and vehicles of all descriptions" and by the Statue of Liberty on the way to Honduras. The journal gives a first-hand view of a number of ports and cities visited, including Porta Delgado, Azores; Gibraltar; Marseilles, France; Port Said, Egypt; Aden, Arabia; Colombo, Ceylon; Singapore; Hong Kong; Chefoo, China; Yokohama, Japan; Tokyo, Japan; Honolulu, Hawaii; Woosung, China; Shanghai, China; and Chemulpo, Korea.

Perhaps the best parts of the journal are his descriptions of the cities, landscape, modes of transport and peoples, often in colorful prose, resulting in a wonderful turn of the Twentieth Century travelogue. For example, (a few brief excerpts), on Port Delgado: "He looks into peculiar faces while he walks through the narrow and crooked streets, some are poor and wretched, and many are crippled and afflicted, yet all are neat and clean…. "

Aden: "As a person enters the town from the landing he is immediately surrounded by a swarm of native Somalis, mostly carriage drivers, who insist on driving you to Aden. … Cool drinks may be had at the two or three hotels that grace the place, but everything is very expensive owing to the continuing drought. … As one enters the back street he may see a warm street dotted with natives, on both sides are dwellings, mostly with open fronts; in the evening incense is burnt in front of each door, which fills the whole community with smoke. In looking in the uncheerful homes may be seen a fire or smudge in the center of the ground; the walls are dirty and smoke stained; a rough bunk in one corner filled with straw matting and a mother with several children, so the hut is crowded to its full capacity. A dancing girl may be seen on almost every corner with a tambourine, singing and dancing for a few coins a stranger might give her. … On leaving Steamer Point the dusty roads follow the beach for a mile, it then strays off into the rugged mountains … many ancient tombs and graves abound along the road. About 4 miles from the 'Point' is a deep narrow pass which is about 300 yds. Long cut through the solid mountain and on the topmost peak on this right hand side is a Tomb of Abel, who is mentioned in the Bible."

The Sea of Japan: "We passed sights which once seen will never be forgotten. Nature has performed wonders in making this indescribable piece of scenery. … There are islands where the foot of a white man have never trespassed. ... It is as near an approach to fairyland as can be made in a matter-of-fact world."

Hong Kong: "No finer combination of picturesque beauty and impregnable strength can be found than this 'right little' 'tight little' colony nestled under the protection of high mountain peaks."

Woosung, China: "A dirty, filthy town that can be smelt 20 miles at sea ... The chief occupations of the Chinese at this place are piracy, begging and sleeping."

Old town Shanghai: A guide is necessary "as by going alone you are in constant danger of violence, robbery and murder."

Tokyo: "Arriving in Tokio (sic) everything is a bustle, but as soon as you are seated in a Jinrickshaw and your human horse is trotting along, many varied and quaint objects strike the eye. There is a nice wide street, along which are the picturesque-roofed one storied houses and open shops decked in the gayest of colors, all wood, paint and paper. In fact it was easy to imagine that we were living on a Japanese screen. Canals, almost as numerous as streets, and beside of all this old-world quaintness, street-cars and busses. Here and there could be seen or heard the whistle of engines, the tall chimney of factories, now and then little boulevards with roads of cherry trees in one mass of blooms."

Hawaii: "The old Palace of Queen Liliuokalani now used as the Governor's Palace, and is a very attractive place, surrounded with a beautiful garden and a high iron fence. Several of us had the pleasure to witness a native ball, where the women dressed as of old, with a grass skirt, their heads and bodies bedecked with flowers; it was a curious sight to see them, when they formed in a ring and began their weird movements, with the accompaniment of guitars and some kind of native instrument, very much like a banjo. It is wonderful what contortions they can go through and how long they can keep it up without getting tired. Several ladies of the wealthier class were there, their arms and necks bedecked with costly gold ornaments."

He also includes a humorous description of the new U.S. possession, Midway Island, provided by a marine previously stationed there: "Midway Island is situated between the clouds and the bottom of the Pacific ocean, from which fact it derives its name. The population consists of about 50 people, half a dozen Chinese and twenty U.S. Marines. At low tide the island is quite large and there is plenty of room for everybody, but when the tide is high we congregate upon the highest sand dune…."

The journal is also a view into the projection of naval power around the world, to which the U.S. is a relative new entrant. Almost every port has European warships, which are noted. In Egypt the British fleet is present, with the pyramids in the distance. In Aden there are English and Italian warships. In Chemulpo, Korea there are English, French, German, Italian and Japanese warships in addition to the U.S. "Asiatic Fleet." The journal also brings out the need for many far flung ports in order to be able to take on coal, a constant concern and activity on the ship. Life on the ship is also described, from dealing with harsh weather, target practice, food, having the hull scraped and painted, fixing balky machinery, to men being injured and killed on the ship and ashore. The author loses his two front teeth to an accident and a sailor overdoses on opium, among other mishaps. There is a long description of the battle in February 1903 at Chemlo, Korea between the Russians and Japanese, from one Ensign Castle who was present on the U.S.S. Vicksburg, including the text of a letter sent to all foreign ships in the port from the Japanese commander prior to the battle. A valuable primary source.