Today it takes 12 hours or so to fly almost half way round the world. I can have a Whatsapp conversation with someone in Australia in real time. Thanks to TV, YouTube, social media and ease of travel, there are few corners of the globe that remain a mystery.
All of this is pretty positive. But there are losses. Before we visit a foreign country, we can find out everything we want to know and enjoy the videos of travellers who have gone before us. We are better prepared than voyagers used to be, but there is also that loss of mystery, and with the mystery perhaps of fascination and adventure.
When John Pledger, my great grandfather, wrote letters from China every few days to the young lady he was courting, he had so much to report and describe that fascinated him and would have fascinated most people in England. For example, he writes this from the Singapore, en route to China in October 1894:
After leaving Penang we had a pleasant thirty hours run to Singapore which we sighted about 5pm on Monday afternoon, passing meanwhile numerous small islands. After a little time we were able to make out the things more distinctly and could not fail in being struck with the beauty of the place. One has indeed to see the tropical places to have any idea of their beauty, imagine if you can a series of hills running down almost to the sea shore and covered with splendid verdure, all such beautiful ferns as would be the pride of any green house in England, growing wild here in the richest profusion.
In 2020, even if we haven’t visited a tropical country, we have a fair impression of what it is like and no-one going on holiday would need to describe it to us. Or would even think of doing so. We no longer even send postcards, as with social media we can, if we wish, share our own photographs with our friends on a minute by minute basis.
So, what may have seemed to John and Fannie the most interesting aspect of the letters, after the serious matter of his vocation and the job of spreading the Word, is now no longer relevant to us.
What is the point, then, of sharing the content of his letters beyond our family?
To me it seems that what is most fascinating today is almost the opposite. We have a regular, detailed insight into the feelings and experiences of someone who travels farther from his home than almost anyone ever did. It would be, for us, like going to Mars but without email and video messaging. Not only was the journey impossibly long, but letters took months and months to travel between China and England, especially once he had travelled deep into the west of China. He was more isolated, more cut off from everything he knew, than anyone could be on this planet today. This is an experience that, now, seems mysterious and fascinating to us.
There is also something in them that is timeless and compelling. It’s a love story. Boy meets girl. Boy travels to the other side of the globe and courts girl by hand written letter. Does she want to join him? Is she able to? What will happen in the end? Reading the letters allows us into their world, where the suspense is excruciating and the wait for news seems endless. What patience and acceptance they must both have had. Patience and acceptance that are no longer required in our world of lightening fast communications and easy travel.
Adventure can mean many things. Experiencing different countries, cultures and ways of life, or journeying towards an unknown future full of surprises, challenges and lessons. The latter may be more fascinating than the former.
A fascinating story of your family, Harriet, and thank you for posting your interesting comments.