Letter from Hattie to Em, December 6, 1871

Letter from Hattie to Em, December 6, 1871

Voyages and travels; Missionaries; Steamboats

In this letter to her sister Emily, Harriet writes aboard the Douglass on the way back to Canton. She suffers more from motion sickness than she used to. Harriet has enjoyed their travels for the past two months and is grateful for all the nice people they met, but looking forward to getting back to Canton and the letters that are waiting for her there.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #1

Unpublished

1871-12-06

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_068

SS Douglass
Dec 6[u]th[/u] '71 -
My dear Em,
We left our writing
got the home mail thinking
that we would write on
board the steamer between
Foochow + Amoy. But we
found yesterday as soon
as we got under way
that there was too much
motion to think of writing
This morning it is a little
more quiet + I will try
and [u]pencil[/u] a few lines
to you before we reach
Amoy. I have always
heard that this steamer
the Douglass rolls wonderfully
and certainly she did
last night. You remember
perhaps that I used to
think myself proof against
sea-sickness but I have

changed my tactics and now improve every opportunity
for getting sea sick. I presume it is because I am so
billious. I imagine that it has pretty effectively cured
me of any love of being at sea. We now begin to feel
that we are getting nearly back to Canton. When
we are safely back again I mean to "write-up" an
account of our trip and send you. Neither Henry
nor I have kept any notes because we did not
want to be bothered with anything that would interfere
with our perfect enjoyment of the trip and we have
enjoyed it, oh [u]so much[/u]. You know how much
pleasure I anticipated + all my anticipations
have been more than fully realized. We have
had most delightful visit at Amoy Ningpo Shanghai
Hangchow + Foochow and have still before us a visit
to Amoy Swatow + Hongkong. And we have met so
many [u]nice people[/u] at every post. We counted up
nearly a hundred the other day, I have enjoyed
Every hour since I left Canton not expecting sea
sickness + our shipwreck for they came is as
new experiences + I always enjoy that even if
a little disagreeable at the time.

Now I feel as though I
would like to go back to
Canton + not leave there
again until we go [u]home[/u]
to America. I am [u]so
thankful[/u] that we
could have this trip
it is so nice to meet other
missionaries and then
when we she their
names afterwards we
can recall them and
feel so much more
interest in them. We
are beginning to [u]long[/u] for
the letters that are awaiting
us in Canton. It is two
months now since we have
heard a word from America +
will be two weeks or so
more before we shall
Ever your loving sister
Hattie



Douglass 船
1871 年 12 月 6 日 -
我亲爱的 Em，
我们离开了我们的写作收到了家庭邮件，
以为我们会在福州和厦门之间的轮船上写作。
但是昨天我们一上路就发现有太多的动作要考虑写今天早上稍微安静一点，
我会在我们到达厦门之前试着给你写几行。
我一直听说道格拉斯的这个蒸笼卷起来非常棒，
而且她昨晚确实做到了。
你也许还记得，
我曾经认为自己可以抵御晕船，
但我已经改变了策略，
现在提高了每一次晕船的机会。
我想这是因为我太疯狂了。
我想它已经非常有效地治愈了我对海上的任何热爱。
我们现在开始觉得我们快要回到广州了。
当我们再次安全返回时，
我的意思是“写下”我们旅行的记录并发送给你。
亨利和我都没有留下任何笔记，
因为我们不想被任何会干扰我们完美享受旅行的事情所困扰，
我们很享受它，
哦，
太棒了。
你知道我所期待的快乐，
我所有的期待都已经完全实现了。
我们在厦门宁波上海杭州和福州度过了最愉快的访问，
并且还在我们之前访问了厦门汕头和香港。
我们在每个职位上都遇到了很多好人。
前几天我们数了将近一百，
我很享受自从我离开广州后的每一个小时，
没想到会晕船，
因为他们来了，
我们的沉船都是新的体验，
即使当时有点不愉快，
我也总是很享受。
现在我觉得我想回到广州，
在我们回到美国之前不再离开那里。
我非常感谢我们能有这次旅行，
很高兴见到其他传教士，
然后当我们后来她的名字时，
我们可以回忆起他们并对他们产生更多的兴趣。
我们开始渴望在广州等着我们的信件。
我们已经两个月没有听到美国的消息了，
而且还要再过两个星期左右。
你的妹妹，
海蒂

Letter