[A memorandum kept by Walter A. Burlingame.] Letts’s No. 33 Rough Diary, or Scribbling Journal, with a week in an opening, for 1868 [cover-title].

[China, India, Greece, Cairo, and other locales, 9 January–16 May 1868.]. 8vo (9.75” x 8”), printed stiff wrappers with green paper spine. 37 pp. of manuscript entries, numerous blank leaves. CONDITION: Good, wear to covers; loss to bottom half of paper at spine with additional loss at head of spine and edges; front wrapper partially coming away; contents generally clean, some dampstaining, no losses to the text.

An interesting journal kept by teenager Walter A. Burlingame describing his travels and experiences in China and elsewhere while traveling with his father, a noted diplomat.

Born in Cambridge, Mass., Walter Angell Burlingame (1851–1916) was the son of Anson Burlingame (1820–1870), an important figure in Chinese-American relations, the landmark Burlingame-Seward Treaty signed in July 1868 being largely the result of his efforts. China and the U.S. concluded the Treaty to expand upon the 1858 Treaty of Tianjin. The new treaty established basic principles that sought to ease immigration restrictions and represented a Chinese effort to limit U.S. interference in China’s internal affairs. The Treaty outlined an amicable relationship between the two nations and gave each the right to move freely in the other’s country.

Walter Burlingame was with his father in Shanghai in late 1867 (shortly before he began this journal), when his father left to head the Chinese delegation to the U.S. Composed of brief daily comments and sometimes recording the longitude and latitude of locations as well as weather and distances, this diary chronicles Walter’s travels through Southeast Asia and elsewhere after that. Walter sailed from Shanghai to Hong Kong, Macao, Calcutta, Penuing, Bombay, Heleopolis, Jaffe, Jerusalem, the Red Sea, Ramala, Damascus, Smyrna, Athens, Corinth Isthmus, Delphi, Constantinople, and finally Heidelberg, Germany, where he was studying at the university. Walter was aged sixteen or seventeen at the time of these travels. Walter was one of Anson and Jane C. Livermore’s three children, the two others being Edward (b. 1848) and Gertrude (b. 1853). In 1879, Walter married Katharine M. Sedgwick, a period when he was working as an official for the chemical manufacturer Solvay Process Co. in Syracuse, NY. The couple had three children. Walter died in Syracuse in 1916.

After attending the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School, Anson Burlingame began a political career in the Massachusetts Senate. In 1855 he was elected as a Republican to Congress and served three terms. After the presidential campaign of 1860, Burlingame became U.S. Minister to China in 1861 in which capacity he concluded the Burlingame-Seward Treaty. Under Secretary of State William Seward’s direction, he worked to establish America as a power in the East. After Western powers encouraged the Chinese Government to send diplomatic missions abroad, the Chinese requested that Burlingame accompany their representatives on a tour that included stops in the major capitals of Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin. The treaty’s success was short-lived. By the late 1870s, there was an increase in anti-Chinese sentiment in the U.S. A new treaty signed in 1880 revised the Burlingame-Seward agreement, and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 repealed its free immigration clauses entirely. Burlingame died while on a diplomatic mission to St. Petersburg, Russia in 1870.

SOME REPRESENTATIVE PASSAGES

9 Jan. “Left Shanghai for Hong Kong, at 10 O’clk, in the steamer Erl King, Capt. Penill. The weather was very fine… Passed through the Saddle Islands about 5 PM. The mail steamer Formosa started from Shanghai a few minutes after we did.”

10 Jan. “Passed a good many junks in the afternoon. During the night the wind increased and blew quite a heavy gale, and the steamer rolled about tremendously. I slept through it all and knew nothing about it until next day.”

12 Jan. “Arrived in Hong Kong… Went to ride with Mr. Forner[?]. Stopping at R. & Co.’s.”

13 Jan. “Ordered clothes to be made by the Chinese tailor, had trunks marked, etc. Walked down to the parade ground to see the English troops drilled.”

14 Jan. “Started for Canton on board the steamer Pogang…a delightful sail up the Canton River. Went to R. & Co.’s—Murray Forbes is at the head of the house at Canton. Paid a visit to some of the curio shops. Also to some fine temples.”

15 Jan. “Went across the river to the city of Canton. Visited a great many magnificent shops. Went to a shop…bought an ivory ball with six other balls carved inside for $1.50… Took lunch at Mr. Buckley’s. Visited How-quas gardens with Mr. and Mrs. Henry.”

16 Jan. “Went to the “Temple of Horrors,” the “Temple of the Five Genies,” the Confucian temple, the hall of examinations, the water clock, the “City of the dead,” etc.”

18 Jan. “Started for Macao on board the steamer White Cloud... went to a large and magnificent house formerly occupied by Messrs Heard & Co.”

21 Jan. “Ah Quang came down from Canton to visit me. Had a long talk with him. Took a walk in the public garden.”

23 Jan. “Left Hong Kong in the steamship Reiver, Capt. Bolton for Calcutta…had strong breeze…”

26 Jan. “We’re running along the coast of Cochin China nearly all day.”

29 Jan. “Arrived at Singapore… Went to the botanical gardens in the afternoon.”

30 Jan. “Visited Wham-poa’s garden in the morning with Mr. Bradford & servant.”

Penang; 3 Feb. “Went to the waterfall early in the morning with Mr. & Mrs. Richards. Left Panang for Calcutta…”

6 Feb. “Passed the solitary island of Nasconden…passed the Cocoa Islands…were abreast of the lighthouse.”

Calcutta; 11 Feb. “Took a ride through the fashionable streets of the city.”

12 Feb. “Visited the museum, the Hindoo college, the house of a swell native, Mr. Dall’s school etc. etc. Mrs. Dall is a Christian missionary. In the afternoon took a ride around by Fort William, and went into the cathedral there.”

13 Feb. “Went to the “Oriental Bank” to draw some money. Took a ride around town in the afternoon.”

14 Feb. “Went to the menagerie and palaces owned by the Rajah of Burdwan province. His grounds are 30 by 18 miles in size and he pays $2,000,000 a year to the English government, as rent.”

15 Feb. “The sacred city of Benares…”

17 Feb. “Visited a large temple erected to the sacred monkies. Took a sail down the sacred Ganges. Passed by hundreds and hundreds of people bathing themselves in the holy river—also saw many dead bodies being burned by the side of the river. Went to the top of a Mohamaden Mosque, where we had a fine view of the city.”

20 Feb. “Visited the old fort in the morning. Went to the Taj [Mahal] in the afternoon. Went again in the evening and saw the Taj illuminated.”

22 Feb. “Took breakfast with Dr. Playfair. Left for Delhi…”

24 Feb. “Went out to the Kotub—with Mr. Duncan. The Kotub is 11 miles from Delhi. Had a ride on an elephant coming back.”

4 March “Engine ran off the track…no harm done. Arrived at Bombay.”

6 March “Riding about all day…came very near being smashed up.”

13 March “Saw a small native craft with signals of distress up. Stopped and waited for her to come up. She sent a small boat to us for water and food, which were given them…said they were from Mecca and bound to Africa. They were probably slaves.”

Cairo; 23 March “Visited the Citadel, built by the Pasha of Egypt, the grand mosque, etc.…fine view of the pyramids from the mosque.”

24 March “Went to the pyramids with Mr. & Mrs. Terry and Mr. Chase. Went up to the top and into the inside. Bothered almost to death by the rascally Arabs who wanted ‘backshisch.’”

25 March “Went out to Heleopolis…[and] Alexandria. Got one letter from the consul office…from Mother.”

2 April “Started for the trip to the Dead Sea. Reached Bethlehem.”

5 April “Services at Church of Holy Sepulchre [in Jerusalem].”

21 April “Left on horseback for Babel…visited the magnificent ruins…” Athens; 4 May “Visited the Acropolis by moonlight with the Miss Messengers and Mr. Allen.”

5 May “Saw the King and Queen.”

6 May “Took steamer for the isthmus of Corinth.”

7 May “After four hours in the steamer we arrived at a small port where we took horses for Delphi… arrived about 5 o’clock and visited the Oracle, etc.”

Constantinople; 15 May “Saw the Sultan. Had magnificent row up the Sweet Water.”

16 May “Visited bazaars, rode around the walls etc. Sent telegram to Heidelberg.”

Accounts by adolescents of travels in this part of the world from this time period are scarce, especially with provenance of this sort.

REFERENCES: The Burlingame-Seward Treaty, 1868 at history.state.gov; A Sedgwick Genealogy: Descendants of Deacon Benjamin Sedgwick at sedgwick.org