April 18, 1852
April 18th, 1852
My Dear Sarah:
I now avail myself of the opportunity of writing to you a few lines to let you know that I am well. Hoping that these few lines will find you the same.
I received your letter on Saturday morning [at] the time of sailing. We anchored out in the river until Thursday the 18th of March, and we have had a good passage to Rio, which is a distance [of] four thousand seven hundred miles in the short time of 30 days. Here we put in for water and other stores.
D[ear] Sarah, you will be very anxious to know whether I was sick or not. Well Sarah, I have been seasick for the short time of 6 or 8 days, but got well and healthy as a buck[?]. Your brother George was not sick at all, but 4 or 5 days with a headache. He and Edward O’Connor been taking reads on the seas; don’t agree with EJ at all.
All well on board but one. The strongest man on board—he is over 6 feet high, a farmer from the State of Maine. He was making his brags about how strong he was and that he was the boy for California. I don’t know but he will be left at Rio.
Sarah, you are the only one I have wrote to and I am not going to write to not other ‘til I get to California. You may keep your heart.
We enjoy ourselves the best kind on board of ship. You cannot guess what times we have—gambling, fighting, stowaways, dragging old “Ham and Eggs” out of bed. That is an old fellow about 50 years old. He called for ham and eggs the first night out when we were all sick, so I was the first one that gave him that name. George helped to drag him out of bed. The boys are up to all such tricks every night.
We never get to sleep no night ‘til about 2 o’clock.. They raise the Devil all the time. There is only about in all 128 passengers. We pass any ship in that comes in sight and we spoke one that was bound for San Francisco that had been out 44 days from Boston.
Sarah, I have stopped chewing tobacco. That is a great wonder. I have not chewed none on board.
The weather has been very hot. Before we crossed the Equator here we sleep without any covering on. George he is bedfellows he and I. Think of you-know-who did not tell me anything about Miss P.? Mrs. Harden is getting as fat as a little whale. George writes to A.P. Give my resp[ects] to her and tell her I am very much obliged to her for coming to see me when I was ill.
I am now going to give you a little idea of the how we live on board. We get Plum Duff twice a week, doughnuts for supper every other evening, Indian meal pudding[?] every morning for breakfast, ham on Sunday morning. Have plenty of everything on board, but no work. George B. [and I] have Punch every night when we go to bed. We live here quite contented; as happy as you please. Nothing to provoke us.
Rio is one of the handsomest places most I ever saw, and moreso the scenery around the city is most splendid and more than that. The Portuguese in this country go naked. I guess it will make the ladies who come this way feel a little somewhat squeamish.
We all go ashore tomorrow morning to post this letter and by the time you receive this letter we will be pretty well on our journey to California. There is nothing more of any note that I can relate at present. Mrs. Harden is well and has her best love to all her friends. She sends a letter to someone, I don’t know who it is.
My dear Sarah, you must excuse my handwriting and all mistakes and accept of my best love from your sincere and affectionate lover and remain ever the same,
John Bryden
I will write you the first opportunity my dear Sarah.
John Bryden
This may be my favorite letter in the whole set. John clearly had the time of his life heading out for the California Gold Rush.
Written in ink on blue 8.5” x 14” landscape-ruled rag paper, folded along the short axis into a 4-page signature. Watermark in top left corner of the first page in the shape of a bird in profile.
This letter has the recipient’s name and address (Miss Sarah Bowles, Lairdsville, Oneida County, New York State) on the last page. From the fold lines, wear marks, and round, red stains, it appears to have been folded and sealed, rather than placed in an envelope.
On the fourth page beneath the address there is a list of numbers and a total. I don’t think it is postage due to the size of the sum (the total is $4.19), and the fact that it is not visible when the letter is folded.
This letter is a little odd in that John apparently filled in the four pages in the following order p. 1, p. 3, p. 2. I chalk it up to the punch. I’ve put the transcription in that order for ease of reading.
