Habersham, A. W.:
My Last Cruise. Where We Went And What We Saw: Being An Account Of Visits To The Malay And Loo-Choo Islands, The Coasts Of China, Formosa, Japan, Kamtschatka, Siberia, And The Mouth Of The Amoor River, Interspersed with Amusing Incidents and Exciting Adventures, J. B. Lippincott & Co. Philadelphia, 1878 (c1857), 8vo (6 x 9 in), 507 pp., two types of covers - red (green) and black decorated front cover and spine with gold title area on spine, frontispiece (steel engraving), illustrated title page (steel engraving), 29 black and white plates (frontispiece is included in this total) - steel engravings (3) and woodcuts (26). The plate of the Japan bath house (bathing) scene is often referred to as one of the key plates in the book. This narrative recounts the journey of the United States Exploring Expedition to the North Pacific and China Seas, 1853-1856, under Cadwallader Ringwald. It includes sections on the visits to Malay, the Loo-Choo Islands, the Coasts of China and Formosa, Japan, Kamtschatka, Siberia, and the mouth of the Amoor River. Habersham was a Lieutenant in the surveying party and served aboard the John P Kennedy. The expedition, under the command of Commander Cadwalader Ringgold, sailed in June of 1853 for the Orient via the Cape of Good Hope and Batavia. The Vincennes served as flag-ship to the four other expedition vessels (screw-steamer John Hancock, the brig-of-war Porpoise, the schooner J. Fenimore Cooper and the store-ship John P. Kennedy). While the narrative overlaps the time the Perry Expedition was in Japan, the Ringwald Expedition arrived in Okinawa and Japan after Perry had completed his mission. The narrative provides an interesting account of events immediately in the wake of the Perry Expedition. The section on Ryukyu Islands starts in April of 1855 and spans 15 pages. The ships returned from Japan via San Francisco and Cape Horn and arrived at New York Navy Yard in the summer of 1856.

Two Different Covers. I have recorded two different covers for this edition. The first I call Type I. The cover (red) has the title on the front cover. The second type (green) has a picture of a ship on the front and no title. On the spine of Type II there is an illustration of a man and a bear.

The book listed below is the biography of John M. Brooke. Brooke served aboard the Fennimore Cooper on this exploring expedition and that is covered in the book.

Brooke, Jr., George M.:
John M. Brooke, Naval Scientist and Educator, Charlottesville, University of Press of Virginia, 1980, 8vo, navy blue cloth, dust jacket, 2 maps, 33 black and white illustrations, 372 pages. This detailed and well documented biography chronicles John Mercer Brooke's (1826-1906) long and illustrious career as a Naval officer, scientist and inventor. For more information on this book, click here.

Buy the Book -- To order this book on-line, click here

Title Page (Steel Engraving)
Women Admiring a Watch (Steel Engraving)	Bathing Scene (Steel Engraving)
Frontispiece	After Page 242
Execution Yard, Canton (Steel Engraving) After Page 124
Alarmed at Our Approach (Woodcut)	Pretty Girls Who Welcomed Us (Woodcut)
After Page 192	After Page 202
Covers - 2 Types Type I   Type II (Ship)
Collation. Full Title: My Last Cruise. Where We Went And What We Saw: Being An Account Of Visits To The Malay And Loo-Choo Islands, The Coasts Of China, Formosa, Japan, Kamtschatka, Siberia, And The Mouth Of The Amoor River, Interspersed with Amusing Incidents and Exciting Adventures. Frotispiece (Steel Engraving) + illustrated title page + full title tage + in memory page + preface (2 pages) + table of contents (5 pages) + contents (pages 13-507) + advertisements (4 pages - unnumbered). Illustrations are frontispiece (steel engraving with tissue guard), illustrated title page (steel engraving shares tissue guard with Frontispiece), 2 full page steel engravings, 26 full page woodcuts. Illustrations are on thicker glossy type paper and are not numbered.   Tinted Steel Engravings / Woodcuts (faces the page noted) (1) Frontispiece - Woman Admiring a Watch in Japan (engraving with tissue guard (2) It Was Time to Think of Lightening Her (page 20) (3) Adventure with a Snake (page 100) (4) The Mouth of Rangou Creek (page 108) (5) Scenery Around Wampoa (page 118) (6) Camoens's Cave--(Macao) (page 120) (7) Tanka Boat and Girl (page 122) (8) Execution Yard - Canton (engraving w tissue guard) (page 124) (9) The Pagoda of Loah-Sing-Tar (page 140) (10) The Sea that Struck Us on the Quarter (page 155) (11) Hartman and the Red Men of Formosa (page 174) (12) Going to Pay a Visit (Okinawa) (page 182) (13) Loo-Choo Country People (Anakirima Group) (Okinawa) (page 184) (14) They Are Alarmed at Our Approach (Okinawa) (page 192) (15) The Officials of the Temple (Okinawa) (page 194) (16) The Pretty Girls Who Welcomed Us (page 202) (17) Mahomet and the Mountain Settle a Difference of Opinion (page 212) (18) Bathing Scene in Japan (engraving, no tissue guard) (page 242) (19) The "Iron Bound Coast" During Fair Weather (page 268) (20) Backing into the Sea-God's Temple (page 278) (21) Japanese Official Communicating with a Superior (page 290) (22) Japanese Temple (page 296) (23) The Annu or Hairy Kuriles (page 312) (24) "Nor West Parrots" (page 334) (25) Scenery About the Coal-Mine (page 356) (26) "Backward--Slowly Backward" (page 382) (27) Crossing a Siberian Ford (page 418) (28) Waylaing a Siberian Bear (page 442) (29) The "Two-Forty" Pace of "Old Grayback" (page 478)