(JAMAICA) Manuscript diary of a British corporal

Sale 2263 - Lot 325

Price Realized: $ 330

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 250 - $ 350

(JAMAICA.) Manuscript diary of a British corporal. [113] manuscript pages in pencil. 4to, 1/4 calf, backstrip worn; contents sound. Jamaica, 15 February to 24 August 1896

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The diary of a corporal in the Royal Engineers, stationed at Kingston and Port Royal, Jamaica. His official duties were not onerous, allowing him to describe the numerous dances he attended, as well as day trips throughout the Kingston region. Describes "the negresses and negroes returning to their homes in the country after market day": "49 out of 50 pedestrians had a load on their heads, old women & little children each with heavy loads & strutting along as if they only had a hat" (4 April). Describes the "darky" peanut vendors at a concert who go about with small kerosene lamps, which pranksters try to blow out (15 May). Went for a walk into "the bush": "The niggers living here are of course the poorest of the poor & their dwelling places are of shrub & bush, about 10 ft by 6 some of them are, & they live on anything" (4 June). Describes a Chinese settlement near Kingston: "We passed through a coolie village where the inhabitants (by appearances) live in a semi-uncivilized condition. They were the worst specimens of humanity that I had ever seen . . . lying all over the place & grovelling in the gutters" (5 July). Overall, a well-written diary from a generally condescending colonialist perspective.