Sep 27, 2018 - Sale 2486

Sale 2486 - Lot 426

Price Realized: $ 2,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
(CUBA.) Manifest listing a shipload of Chinese laborers bound for Havana, 16 of whom died en route. 10 manuscript pages, 13 1/2 x 9 inches, plus a final blank leaf; moderate wear with minimal loss of text, full separations at folds, toning. Havana, 12 July 1871
Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

This list is headed "Lista de los colonos que fueron embarcados en China á bordo de la fragata Espanola nombrada Encarnacion su capitan Gardoqui, llegada á este puerto de dia 11 del presente mes, donde se espresan los que han fallecido durante la travesia y los nombres cristianos que se les han dado"--in English "List of the migrants who were embarked in China on board the Spanish frigate named Encarnacion, its captain Gardoqui, its arrival at this port having been on the 11th day of this month, where it is stated those who died during the voyage and the Christian names that have been given to them." It lists 327 men, giving their transliterated Chinese name, age, their assigned Spanish given name, and a column headed "Defuncion" (death). Other columns are headed "Sexo" and "Profesion," but all passengers were men, and the profession is left blank. At the end of the list is a note signed by an official named Colomé: "Por donde se ve que los muertos son diez los cuales van marcados asi ø."--"It will be seen that the dead are ten, which are marked so: ø." However, there are 16 names which bear the fatal mark, who did not survive the voyage to Cuba. For example, among the deceased are #26 on the list is Chang Foi Quan, aged 31, assigned the name Anatolio; #63, Lam Sem, aged 24, assigned the name Bernardino; and #78, Ho Veng Soi, aged 20, assigned the name Caridad. The Spanish names are in alphabetical order and end with "S," suggesting that they were written onto the manifest from a pre-prepared list, assigning the new names at random.