Sunday. May 28th Fayal Hotel. Horta.
Before seven o’c this morning we heard Mr Wallach’s voice in the hall. He is just back from St Michaels. He brought Grace a lovely bangle. We went to the Cathedral at 11 to see two men crowned. There were four priests, some acolytes, a choir of men’s voices, the soldiers and a procession (the civil senate[?]) – the church full. Then Mr Lee & I went to call on the Dabneys as we decided suddenly to go by steamer Luso to St Michaels & Terceira Mr Lee, Mrs Lee & I. Mr Lee, is wild to go and for a moment I was fired with enthusiasm at the idea of accomplishing as much as possible in a direction to which I shall probably never return – so I yielded to his persuasions and gave him the money to engage my berth on the Luso, a Portuguese steamer running among the islands and to Madeira. If I had realised [sic] how melancholy it is for a family to be in a foreign land, separated from each other by the water, I should never have dared to undertake the trip but having once cast the die, I made up my mind to take the consequences. After packing Mr Sanisberry, the Misses Dabneys – senior & Mr Herbert D. came for Miss Smith and I to go to a friend’s house from which we could see the distribution of the bread and meat in execution of the [?] of those who received the crown this morning. There were little posts along the streets on each side with boards on top. [?] loaves of bread and a plate of meat decorated with flowers was the portion of each one who had tickets. There was a great noise by a red [?] band who followed the priest. He sprinkled the rations with holy water and then a whole street full of people rushed with their tickets for their share and pitched it in to bags brought with them for the purpose. It seemed the most truly religious service I have seen here. There was a very old and feeble man on a crutch who was struggling along with his bread and meat and stopping to rest himself under the window where we were happened to hold his hat in his hand for a second. Mr Sanisberry dropped some money and an expression of [?] and happiness came in to his face which was lovely to see. He looked around for the giver but could not find him then showed it to his companions talking very earnestly and then walked off with a certain elasticity in his step to thank the Virgin, we had no doubt, for her gift dropped down from Heaven. We went to one of the Dabney houses, the one first built by the first Dabney of Azore fame. It is a grand old place, on an eminence overlooking Horta and with a full view of Pico from bay to peak. The house is very large with wide generous hall, a ball-room running the whole length of the house on one side, sunny dining hall, etc. The place is unoccupied. The garden is still kept in order and was a very beautiful sight. It was formerly a garden connected with a little den of a house used by the Confessor of the nuns in the convent near by. “Bagatelle” is where the older Dabneys were all born. There is a library still remaining there in the upper hall, a billiard table and some old fashioned New England furniture. After supper we sat in the parlor, Mrs Lee & I in almost a tearful condition. Mr Wallach came to the hill with us. There was a torchlight, Crown feast procession which lighted up the city as we steamed away from the harbor. Mr Herbert Dabney came on board with Mr Sanisberry and got good rooms for us. It was a pleasure to be on a boat of some size and with good rooms after our trying accommodations on the Sarah.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Saturday, May 27th, 1882
Saturday. May 27th. Fayal Hotel Horta.
Played Whist and read and wrote our final home letters and loafed. In the middle of the afternoon we rec’d an informal note directive to Mrs Lee, insisting Mrs & Mr L, Miss Smith & I to tea at 8 o’c. We were delighted to go and had a lovely time. They gave us a very simple tea, some fish nicely cooked, biscuits & butter, tea, two kinds of preservers and cake. Miss Alice Dabney talked a great deal about Mrs Sam Dinsmore, with whom she made a long passage to America several years ago. Then I had a long conversation with Mrs Dabney who nearly frightened me to death by referring to the circumstances which made them come to the Azores to live. She told me a great deal about their family life here, their relatives and their life when in America. They had a number of views, taken by English men of the Canaries, Madeira and Azores and we had a very amusing time over a English-Portuguese phrase book which was evidently compiled by a Frenchman. Some of the sentences, equally had in Portuguese or English, were too funny to be believed written as serious. I remember one of the proverbs – “Take time by the forclock” was written “Take the occasion for the hairs.” We had a great time rousing Antonio to let us in when we got home. He was very grumpy. Mr Sanisberry gave us a treat of wine, nespras and cake.
Played Whist and read and wrote our final home letters and loafed. In the middle of the afternoon we rec’d an informal note directive to Mrs Lee, insisting Mrs & Mr L, Miss Smith & I to tea at 8 o’c. We were delighted to go and had a lovely time. They gave us a very simple tea, some fish nicely cooked, biscuits & butter, tea, two kinds of preservers and cake. Miss Alice Dabney talked a great deal about Mrs Sam Dinsmore, with whom she made a long passage to America several years ago. Then I had a long conversation with Mrs Dabney who nearly frightened me to death by referring to the circumstances which made them come to the Azores to live. She told me a great deal about their family life here, their relatives and their life when in America. They had a number of views, taken by English men of the Canaries, Madeira and Azores and we had a very amusing time over a English-Portuguese phrase book which was evidently compiled by a Frenchman. Some of the sentences, equally had in Portuguese or English, were too funny to be believed written as serious. I remember one of the proverbs – “Take time by the forclock” was written “Take the occasion for the hairs.” We had a great time rousing Antonio to let us in when we got home. He was very grumpy. Mr Sanisberry gave us a treat of wine, nespras and cake.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Friday, May 26th, 1882
Friday. May 26th Fayal Hotel.
Sick this morning so I could not go with the rest to the Caldeira [sic]. I spent the morning reading File 113 by Gaboriau – very exciting – and laughing at Mrs Edwards who has been enlarging on her aristocratic friends, and her father’s estate in Australia, all in the broadest Irish brogue. She is devoted to traveling and now that there has been an earthquake here she has an excuse to give Mr Edwards for wishing to leave Fayal. She showed us her collection of china, some very specimens of Indian basket china and some other very old. The people who went to the Caldeira came home exhausted but very enthusiastic over the beauty and marvel of the crater. It is over 1500 ft deep and 5 miles around, filled with vegetation and a slimy lake in the center. The ascent is very difficult and note safe on donkey back so there was a great deal of walking. Mr Kent & Mr Taylor were thrown four or five times each and Mr Sanisberry had a fall. Miss Smith came off a poor old hag and nearly killed her. One of the donkeys kicked furiously and balked besides.
Sick this morning so I could not go with the rest to the Caldeira [sic]. I spent the morning reading File 113 by Gaboriau – very exciting – and laughing at Mrs Edwards who has been enlarging on her aristocratic friends, and her father’s estate in Australia, all in the broadest Irish brogue. She is devoted to traveling and now that there has been an earthquake here she has an excuse to give Mr Edwards for wishing to leave Fayal. She showed us her collection of china, some very specimens of Indian basket china and some other very old. The people who went to the Caldeira came home exhausted but very enthusiastic over the beauty and marvel of the crater. It is over 1500 ft deep and 5 miles around, filled with vegetation and a slimy lake in the center. The ascent is very difficult and note safe on donkey back so there was a great deal of walking. Mr Kent & Mr Taylor were thrown four or five times each and Mr Sanisberry had a fall. Miss Smith came off a poor old hag and nearly killed her. One of the donkeys kicked furiously and balked besides.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Thursday, May 25th, 1882
Thursday. May 25th Fayal Hotel.
“A dream of a da’ay” as Mr Sanisberry says. The Lees, Miss Smith, Mrs, Miss Dabney, Sen, Miss Rose, Mr Herbert, Kent & Taylor and I went on a picnic to Cristel Blanco. It was Mr Sanisberry’s treat. There were three baron[?] with mules, three abreast in one of them, & the Dabneys sent some servants to carry one shawls and provisions. Cristel Blanco is a rock rising directly from the ocean to a height of more than 700 ft. connected with the mainland by a natural bridge. There are several [89] stone steps up its precipitous sides. Years ago there was a convent that there where the nuns fled from piratical Moors and there are a few remains there still of cisterns and wells. There is a patch of German forget me nots there on a corner of the rock, the rest is covered with heather. The view is extensive, of more than half the horizon. Pico and Horta the back hills around to Caprero and the ocean which was like a lake today and pale blue. It was very dreamy. We had one of Mrs Edwards extensive lunches, and then lounged among the heather and talked until nearly sunset. Miss Dabney Sen, was a great friend of Mr & Mrs Wm Hunt, has been at Bratto [Brattleboro] and told many interesting anecdotes of Mr Hunt and some of the people who have been at these islands. She says some lady in New port calls Mr Hunt “the celestial greyhound.” The brother of the Maine painter Wm[?] De Haas died out here – [90] and made some sketches but there are no good paintings or even photos of the scenery among the Azores excepting some of the latter to be found in England, taken by a man by the name of Thorp. Miss Dabney remembered Mr. Wm Bradley’s being here and they all spoke of Sam Dinsmore & his wife & Miss Homer who married Mr St Gaudens. One of the Elliots of Keene died here at Horta.
They told us a great deal about the life here – we noticed that the servants always took off their hats while we were drinking water – from some superstitious notion. We passed some rosemary and they made us pick it as there is a proverb in Portuguese that “he who passes rosemary without picking it, forgets his love.” There is a religious ceremony peculiar to this island of Fayal of carrying the crown to a persons house to stay there several days during which time the owner of the house [91] is expected to entertain the neighbors and spend a great deal of money in music, dress & charity as a vow. Then they still see indulgences & have raised the price of mass from time to time. Mr Lee thought “making a crime in masses” a {?] in the way of business speculations. The Portuguese when speaking of America always mean Boston or New Bedford – if they speak of any other place they call it by its actual name. California, New York, etc. They always take another name or anglicize their own in going to America. Mr Edward’s name is Edowards, Mr Phillips, Philipe. Mrs Dabney said she was horrified at hearing of a family of Dabney’s who had made some money in America & were travelling about under the names of her family, Chas, Alice, Rose, etc. The Fayal Portuguese is the purest spoken in the islands. The ambition of every woman here is to have a [91] Capote. They save all their money for it and consider themselves made when it is obtained. They cost about $35. In the other Azores they have slight deviations on the Capote.
We saw a great many evidences of the earthquake on one drive, walls and housed cracked. They say there have been two shocks since last week but we have not felt them. They came in the night.
Coming home we had a superb view of Pico – with Port [?] and the volcanic rocks in the harbor for a foreground, the light shifting from pale pink to deep violet.
In the evening Miss S, Mr Sanisberry, Mr Dabney & I played Whist and after we were all upstairs we had quite a fine serenade, a viola and four or five good voices. I was surprised to find that the present Mrs Dabney is the daughter of Dr Webster. I connected her with a later generation. When Mr Dabney first came to Fayal he used to entertain all the Americans that came over until reference was so often made to their family history that he gave it up and built a Hotel for the accommodations of travelers. A Sea Capt. related the whole store while dining at the Consuls one evening and Mrs Dabney fainted.
“A dream of a da’ay” as Mr Sanisberry says. The Lees, Miss Smith, Mrs, Miss Dabney, Sen, Miss Rose, Mr Herbert, Kent & Taylor and I went on a picnic to Cristel Blanco. It was Mr Sanisberry’s treat. There were three baron[?] with mules, three abreast in one of them, & the Dabneys sent some servants to carry one shawls and provisions. Cristel Blanco is a rock rising directly from the ocean to a height of more than 700 ft. connected with the mainland by a natural bridge. There are several [89] stone steps up its precipitous sides. Years ago there was a convent that there where the nuns fled from piratical Moors and there are a few remains there still of cisterns and wells. There is a patch of German forget me nots there on a corner of the rock, the rest is covered with heather. The view is extensive, of more than half the horizon. Pico and Horta the back hills around to Caprero and the ocean which was like a lake today and pale blue. It was very dreamy. We had one of Mrs Edwards extensive lunches, and then lounged among the heather and talked until nearly sunset. Miss Dabney Sen, was a great friend of Mr & Mrs Wm Hunt, has been at Bratto [Brattleboro] and told many interesting anecdotes of Mr Hunt and some of the people who have been at these islands. She says some lady in New port calls Mr Hunt “the celestial greyhound.” The brother of the Maine painter Wm[?] De Haas died out here – [90] and made some sketches but there are no good paintings or even photos of the scenery among the Azores excepting some of the latter to be found in England, taken by a man by the name of Thorp. Miss Dabney remembered Mr. Wm Bradley’s being here and they all spoke of Sam Dinsmore & his wife & Miss Homer who married Mr St Gaudens. One of the Elliots of Keene died here at Horta.
They told us a great deal about the life here – we noticed that the servants always took off their hats while we were drinking water – from some superstitious notion. We passed some rosemary and they made us pick it as there is a proverb in Portuguese that “he who passes rosemary without picking it, forgets his love.” There is a religious ceremony peculiar to this island of Fayal of carrying the crown to a persons house to stay there several days during which time the owner of the house [91] is expected to entertain the neighbors and spend a great deal of money in music, dress & charity as a vow. Then they still see indulgences & have raised the price of mass from time to time. Mr Lee thought “making a crime in masses” a {?] in the way of business speculations. The Portuguese when speaking of America always mean Boston or New Bedford – if they speak of any other place they call it by its actual name. California, New York, etc. They always take another name or anglicize their own in going to America. Mr Edward’s name is Edowards, Mr Phillips, Philipe. Mrs Dabney said she was horrified at hearing of a family of Dabney’s who had made some money in America & were travelling about under the names of her family, Chas, Alice, Rose, etc. The Fayal Portuguese is the purest spoken in the islands. The ambition of every woman here is to have a [91] Capote. They save all their money for it and consider themselves made when it is obtained. They cost about $35. In the other Azores they have slight deviations on the Capote.
We saw a great many evidences of the earthquake on one drive, walls and housed cracked. They say there have been two shocks since last week but we have not felt them. They came in the night.
Coming home we had a superb view of Pico – with Port [?] and the volcanic rocks in the harbor for a foreground, the light shifting from pale pink to deep violet.
In the evening Miss S, Mr Sanisberry, Mr Dabney & I played Whist and after we were all upstairs we had quite a fine serenade, a viola and four or five good voices. I was surprised to find that the present Mrs Dabney is the daughter of Dr Webster. I connected her with a later generation. When Mr Dabney first came to Fayal he used to entertain all the Americans that came over until reference was so often made to their family history that he gave it up and built a Hotel for the accommodations of travelers. A Sea Capt. related the whole store while dining at the Consuls one evening and Mrs Dabney fainted.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Wednesday, May 24th, 1882
Wednesday. May 24th. Fayal Hotel.
This afternoon Miss Smith & I went to the Dabneys to play Lawn tennis and had a perfect time. There is a long avenue with high walls on each side leading up to their lodge. Their grounds are quite extensive overlooking an edge of the town and Pico. There is a fine tennis ground infront, the house is immense, white with large verandas in front covered with a little vine called Ficus which bears a fig and clings very close to walls and fences. The Portuguese houses have a basement which is used for store rooms, the sargum, then one goes up stairs and rings a bell at the top. We were given enough to hunt for the bell below and had an absurd time trying to get in, making so much noise that Miss Dabney put her head over the verandah and discovered us. The parlor door was locked so she went around to unfasten it and ushered us in to a very large room, with bare floor and straw rugs, very Southern in character and very refined. They are such a charming family that it was a pleasure to sit there and look at them and their surroundings. We watched a few games of tennis – and then Mrs Dabney & Miss Alice took me to their garden which is beyond realisation. I have never seen anything approaching it – very extensive and filled with the greatest variety of plants and trees. Besides all kinds of flowers which we see wild and in hot houses, there was a superb Norfolk pine, the largest north of the equator, Southern cypresses, cork trees, cinnamon, tea plant, rice paper tree, there were stone walls and stone steps leading to sheltered nooks, and lover’s walks all covered with ivy, ferns and senilax[?] a tropical profusion mingled with green grass and cool air. It was a sight never to be forgotten and Miss Dabney was as lovely as all the rest. They showed me “the earthquake house.” The first consul here began the garden and they have gone on cultivating and adding to it from year to year. They seem so happy in it and not at all s[?]ted – They loaded me with flowers and some native ivy which I shall try to transport to America. They showed me a Madeira palanquin and offered a litter with some men to carry it for Grace. The poor girl has 205 B.B.B.’s [I have no idea what this means?] – We are contemplating leaving the Hotel if we can find another where there are no d[?].
We saw Pico for the first time in all it’s glory, from the Dabney’s verandah this afternoon. The top was covered with snow and tere was a pale pink sunset light over it. I never saw so beautiful a sight, as this mountain rising to a peak from the sea to the height of 7640 ft. The shape is very fine and one gets an effect which is very rare in mountain peaks when rising from a range. The Fayalese love Pico dearly and it is their barometer. When Pico has “a cap on it’s head” it is safe to predict rain – when Pico is clear it will certainly be pleasant. This is such a damp climate that it is not good for weak lungs and is very debilitating in warm weather, Miss Dabney says. She has been three weeks in America, at Roxbury, Milton and Cambridge. I am in love with her.
We had fresh sardines for breakfast.
Whist. Fayal Hotel.
English Counting.
Mr Lee & I against Mrs Lee & Miss Smith
14 points against 18 points
4 points against 5 points
5 points against 9 points
13 points Mr S & I against -- Mr D & Miss S
7 points against 22 points Mrs L & Miss S
5 points against 4 points Mrs L & Miss N
Mr Lee & I 38 points
Against 58 points
This afternoon Miss Smith & I went to the Dabneys to play Lawn tennis and had a perfect time. There is a long avenue with high walls on each side leading up to their lodge. Their grounds are quite extensive overlooking an edge of the town and Pico. There is a fine tennis ground infront, the house is immense, white with large verandas in front covered with a little vine called Ficus which bears a fig and clings very close to walls and fences. The Portuguese houses have a basement which is used for store rooms, the sargum, then one goes up stairs and rings a bell at the top. We were given enough to hunt for the bell below and had an absurd time trying to get in, making so much noise that Miss Dabney put her head over the verandah and discovered us. The parlor door was locked so she went around to unfasten it and ushered us in to a very large room, with bare floor and straw rugs, very Southern in character and very refined. They are such a charming family that it was a pleasure to sit there and look at them and their surroundings. We watched a few games of tennis – and then Mrs Dabney & Miss Alice took me to their garden which is beyond realisation. I have never seen anything approaching it – very extensive and filled with the greatest variety of plants and trees. Besides all kinds of flowers which we see wild and in hot houses, there was a superb Norfolk pine, the largest north of the equator, Southern cypresses, cork trees, cinnamon, tea plant, rice paper tree, there were stone walls and stone steps leading to sheltered nooks, and lover’s walks all covered with ivy, ferns and senilax[?] a tropical profusion mingled with green grass and cool air. It was a sight never to be forgotten and Miss Dabney was as lovely as all the rest. They showed me “the earthquake house.” The first consul here began the garden and they have gone on cultivating and adding to it from year to year. They seem so happy in it and not at all s[?]ted – They loaded me with flowers and some native ivy which I shall try to transport to America. They showed me a Madeira palanquin and offered a litter with some men to carry it for Grace. The poor girl has 205 B.B.B.’s [I have no idea what this means?] – We are contemplating leaving the Hotel if we can find another where there are no d[?].
We saw Pico for the first time in all it’s glory, from the Dabney’s verandah this afternoon. The top was covered with snow and tere was a pale pink sunset light over it. I never saw so beautiful a sight, as this mountain rising to a peak from the sea to the height of 7640 ft. The shape is very fine and one gets an effect which is very rare in mountain peaks when rising from a range. The Fayalese love Pico dearly and it is their barometer. When Pico has “a cap on it’s head” it is safe to predict rain – when Pico is clear it will certainly be pleasant. This is such a damp climate that it is not good for weak lungs and is very debilitating in warm weather, Miss Dabney says. She has been three weeks in America, at Roxbury, Milton and Cambridge. I am in love with her.
We had fresh sardines for breakfast.
Whist. Fayal Hotel.
English Counting.
Mr Lee & I against Mrs Lee & Miss Smith
14 points against 18 points
4 points against 5 points
5 points against 9 points
13 points Mr S & I against -- Mr D & Miss S
7 points against 22 points Mrs L & Miss S
5 points against 4 points Mrs L & Miss N
Mr Lee & I 38 points
Against 58 points
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Tuesday, May 23rd, 1882
Tuesday. May 23rd. Fayal Hotel.
After breakfast, Mr & Mrs Lee, Miss Smith and I started off on donkey back and did not return until after the dinner hour. For a wonder it did not rain until we were in sight of the Hotel. The ride was perfectly delightful, way back through the country, and over high hills or mountains. We would take the little narrow stony roads, with two blk walls on either side, over which were clambering roses, geraniums, nasturtiums, banks of ivy, Madeira vine and the most exquisite ferns & in front or behind we would have extensive views of hillsides covered with grain, deep valleys filled with almost tropical vegetation, orange groves, the ocean and Pico beyond. Sometimes we would come across a straggling village of thatched, stone houses surrounded by beautiful flower gardens – picturesque peasant life, a musical ox cart laboring along under a load of firewood, which is a kind of fir tree, which burns green as well as dry, the whole bush being cut up for the fire. We saw a pretty little shrine, some churches and some old wayside resting places made of whitewashed stones, now yellowed and cracked by time. We went in to one of the wind mills and saw them grinding the corn.
While we were away Miss Dabney sent a note for Miss Smith & me to play some tennis at their place this afternoon and said they would send a palanquin for Grace so that she could be carried about their gardens – but it rained and so I slept all the afternoon. The donkeys have a very comfortable gait when one becomes used to it, and I have a fine brute. Mrs Lee’s animal was vicious. Miss Smith’s saddle slipped a half dozen times and Mr Lee’s donkey stumbled. The drivers make one cry, in urging the donkeys forward, that sounds like “Percine” and it was perfectly a[?] to see Mr Lee beating his beast with his cane, crying “now do you percine”, “Here percine a little.” Etc. He had his phrase book with him and when a small boy or beggar followed us he would defend himself, by using some phrase from the book which would nearly send us off in the ditch with laughter. The sentences would be something like this – “we will see you again shortly,” I trust that your father is quite well,” “We have had enough this time thank you,” etc. We went to the photographers but did not get satisfactory pictures. Mrs Dabney told Mother that 1500 Azorians have gone to the Sandwich Islands lately and like it very much there. Mr Herbert Dabney came around in the evening and we played Whist and ate nespras.
After breakfast, Mr & Mrs Lee, Miss Smith and I started off on donkey back and did not return until after the dinner hour. For a wonder it did not rain until we were in sight of the Hotel. The ride was perfectly delightful, way back through the country, and over high hills or mountains. We would take the little narrow stony roads, with two blk walls on either side, over which were clambering roses, geraniums, nasturtiums, banks of ivy, Madeira vine and the most exquisite ferns & in front or behind we would have extensive views of hillsides covered with grain, deep valleys filled with almost tropical vegetation, orange groves, the ocean and Pico beyond. Sometimes we would come across a straggling village of thatched, stone houses surrounded by beautiful flower gardens – picturesque peasant life, a musical ox cart laboring along under a load of firewood, which is a kind of fir tree, which burns green as well as dry, the whole bush being cut up for the fire. We saw a pretty little shrine, some churches and some old wayside resting places made of whitewashed stones, now yellowed and cracked by time. We went in to one of the wind mills and saw them grinding the corn.
While we were away Miss Dabney sent a note for Miss Smith & me to play some tennis at their place this afternoon and said they would send a palanquin for Grace so that she could be carried about their gardens – but it rained and so I slept all the afternoon. The donkeys have a very comfortable gait when one becomes used to it, and I have a fine brute. Mrs Lee’s animal was vicious. Miss Smith’s saddle slipped a half dozen times and Mr Lee’s donkey stumbled. The drivers make one cry, in urging the donkeys forward, that sounds like “Percine” and it was perfectly a[?] to see Mr Lee beating his beast with his cane, crying “now do you percine”, “Here percine a little.” Etc. He had his phrase book with him and when a small boy or beggar followed us he would defend himself, by using some phrase from the book which would nearly send us off in the ditch with laughter. The sentences would be something like this – “we will see you again shortly,” I trust that your father is quite well,” “We have had enough this time thank you,” etc. We went to the photographers but did not get satisfactory pictures. Mrs Dabney told Mother that 1500 Azorians have gone to the Sandwich Islands lately and like it very much there. Mr Herbert Dabney came around in the evening and we played Whist and ate nespras.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Monday, May 22nd, 1882
Monday. May 22nd Fayal Hotel. Horta.
Mrs Dabney, Miss [sic] and Miss [?] and Mr Hebert Dabney called this morning. They are all very Boston. I was delighted with Mss Alice who is pretty and interesting. We discussed Boston and Fayal life. She says that there is a great change for the better among the Portuguese women with regard to education. When she was a little girl a friend of hers, a Portuguese girl wanted to study geography and everybody was much amused and astonished. They said “is she going to be a sea Capt?” But now there is a great deal of ambition among them, more than among the men, though they call more for languages and accomplishments than more substantial work. They have an aptitude for languages and like to study them so as to have more to read. The Portuguese literature is very limited. She says among the swell Bostonians they say a Boston man’s education is not complete unless he has been to the Azores. Only Americans came here to any extent. More English go to St Michaels. We went to the three sisters on the way and made some purchases. They are quite well educated and have accomplished their education alone. Grace met an “[?]iligant” Portuguese music teacher there and has been in[?]ing him ever since. They make all the noise they can, with flourishing runs, trills and intervals of [?] melody. We [?] that he composed everything he played. Grace has won her bet, with Mr Sanisberry – it rained eight times this morning, twice within an hour.
Mrs Dabney, Miss [sic] and Miss [?] and Mr Hebert Dabney called this morning. They are all very Boston. I was delighted with Mss Alice who is pretty and interesting. We discussed Boston and Fayal life. She says that there is a great change for the better among the Portuguese women with regard to education. When she was a little girl a friend of hers, a Portuguese girl wanted to study geography and everybody was much amused and astonished. They said “is she going to be a sea Capt?” But now there is a great deal of ambition among them, more than among the men, though they call more for languages and accomplishments than more substantial work. They have an aptitude for languages and like to study them so as to have more to read. The Portuguese literature is very limited. She says among the swell Bostonians they say a Boston man’s education is not complete unless he has been to the Azores. Only Americans came here to any extent. More English go to St Michaels. We went to the three sisters on the way and made some purchases. They are quite well educated and have accomplished their education alone. Grace met an “[?]iligant” Portuguese music teacher there and has been in[?]ing him ever since. They make all the noise they can, with flourishing runs, trills and intervals of [?] melody. We [?] that he composed everything he played. Grace has won her bet, with Mr Sanisberry – it rained eight times this morning, twice within an hour.
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