This volume, though primarily the diary of Sidney N. Harrington, contains several miscellaneous items, some of which may have historical and literary value. Entries in it were made by several different people who may have belonged to the same family. It was used as a sort of combination logbook, diary, notebook, and scrapbook from about 1820 to about 1850.
About one-half of the volume consists of a journal of the voyage of the United States Battleship North Carolina around South America from January 1837 to June 1839. Entries in the journal were made by more than one person although Sidney N. Harrington, apparently the navigator, probably owned the book.
According to the journal, the North Carolina left Hampton Roads for South America on January 12, 1837. The first stop was Rio de Janeiro. The journal describes the harbor, the city, and the social and religious life of the denizens. After a stay of several weeks, the “North Carolina” continued its voyage, evidently a perilous one, down the coast of South America and around the cape to Valparaiso, Chile. That city and its people are also described, and some remarks are made about the frequency of earthquakes in the vicinity. Within a short time the North Carolina left Valparaiso and sailed up to Callao, Peru. At Callao the journal describes the execution of a sailor, a visit to the ship by the presidents of Bolivia and Peru, and a few other interesting occurrences.
While the North Carolina lay over at Callao, a war started between Chile and Peru together with her ally, Bolivia. The journal describes that part of the conflict which took place around Callao, and depicts in some detail an unsuccessful attempt by Chilean forces to take the seaport.
In January 1839, the North Carolina started for home. It stopped again at Valparaiso and Rio de Janeiro. At Rio de Janeiro a visit was paid to the ship by the Prince of Sardinia. On the return trip there is much trouble, stopping just short of mutiny, between the crew and the officers. The situation was so bad in fact that the ship is referred to in the journal as the “floating hell.” The journal ends with the docking of the ship at New York on June 20, 1839.
To amuse himself during his idle hours aboard ship, Sidney Harrington began a chronological table of the War of 1812, but did not go very far with it. He also wrote a few essays, one of which expressed antislavery sentiment, and several poems of a nostalgic bent. The journal contains several color drawings of ships, harbor scenery, and flags then in existence--all of which were probably done by Harrington.
The material in this volume that may be of interest to students of literature (aside from the poems, essays, and remarks of indifferent quality) is contained in a few stories and notations entered in the volume by an anonymous person who was probably a close relative of Sidney Harrington. The stories, most of which are jokes and aphorisms, may be of value to those interested in folklore. The same person describes a trip he made by coach from Cheltenham to London in England. The notations are devoted chiefly to his own sufferings and not to a description of the countryside, people, etc. Some of his remarks are quite witty -- for example, “I had a short bill and the landlord a long face.” Although it is not entirely clear, some of the notations seem to refer to [corpses] in the streets of London and a “deathwatch” is also mentioned. It is possible that this person arrived in London during a plague (perhaps smallpox). He does not, however, go into detail. There is also indication that he caught the disease himself, for when he arrived home he remarked: “Mother and sister took me for a ghost, and would not believe I was flesh and blood until they heard my bones rattle under my skin.”
There is very little in the volume that pertains to Wisconsin history. The book was brought to Linn, Wisconsin sometime in the early 1840s, and it contains several autographs and references to people of that vicinity. There is a receipt for payment of the Territorial Tax of 1847; it is dated January 6, 1848, and is made out to Samuel Robinson and signed by George Turner. The tax amounted to one dollar and eighty-eight cents on property in the Town of Linn, Walworth County.
