| Summary |
Letters from Augustus Percival of East Orleans, Mass., a mariner engaged in trade with China, South Africa, the Caribbean, and other places to his wife Mercy (Higgins) Percival. Percival sailed on the bark FALCON as first mate under Capt. Edmund Linnell on voyages to Shanghai, Swatow (Shantou), and other places in China and Taiwan (1868-1869). Long, detailed, diary-like entries describe the weather; navigation; work on the ship; encounters with other ships and pirates; Percival's devout religious beliefs and church attendance; his relationships with the captain, crew and passengers; health and family matters; the customs of the Chinese people, including their food, clothes, homes, language, writing, education, religion, etc.; the opium trade and its importance to the Chinese; other cargo, including coal, tea, cotton, sugar, and silk; western missionaries in China; the ruin of the ship (August 1869); and Percival's fight with looters. In September 1869, Percival went aboard the brig ABBIE CLIFFORD as first mate under Capt. Edwin Clifford and his wife Abbie. Letters describe Percival's affection for the Cliffords; social activities with missionaries in China, including William and Eliza (Dunlevy) Ashmore; discipline of the crew; and ship maintenance and repair. Beginning in December 1870, Percival sailed on multiple trading voyages to South Africa and the Caribbean for merchants Taylor, Kemp & Co., first on the bark GEORGE T. KEMP, then as captain of the bark ANNA L. TAYLOR. Letters describe weather; navigation; encounters with other ships; passengers on board; problems with the crew, including incompetence, laziness, and drunkenness; Percival's nervousness; books he read; cargo (including wool), provisions, and financial matters; sights and social activities in Port Elizabeth and other places in South Africa, including with missionaries; the growth of South African diamond mining; the ship's black West Indian cook named Cuff; and the outbreak of the Zulu War (1879). Letters in 1876 were written from Cuba and contain descriptions of the island, Percival's meetings with other captains, and the discovery of stowaways on his ship. Included are two family letters from 1876. The collection also contains one letter written when Percival sailed with banana merchant Lorenzo Dow Baker from Boston to Jamaica in 1881. Letters from 1882 were written from Java, Indonesia; the Philippines, primarily Iloilo; and Singapore while Percival was captain of the bark THOMAS A. GODDARD. Percival describes these countries and their people; an outreak of cholera; the difficulties of navigating the Makasar Strait (with a ms. map); his dislike for his first mate Mr. Taylor and other problems with the crew; meetings with other captains; sugar trade in the Philippines; the death of a crew member; the role of servants in Singapore, including children who were bought and sold; and conflicts with the ship's owner Asa F. Smith. Also included are accounts of stores on board, a list of Dutch and Javanese words, and a brief description of an insurrection in Java, as well as a few letters to Percival's sons Augustus and George. Percival died in October 1883 and was buried at sea. |
