🚢 AUTHENTIC MULTI-PAGE 1934 TRAVEL LETTER written aboard the UNION-CASTLE LINE S.S. “LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE”, dated APRIL 16, 1934, while EN ROUTE FROM LOURENÇO MARQUES TO BEIRA, PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA.

🌍 This is a WONDERFUL early WILL letter from BEFORE his later Lieutenant material, and it is PACKED with firsthand commentary on AFRICAN TRAVEL, SHIPPING, U.S. IMPORT RULES, COLONIAL POLITICS, CURRENCY, TELEGRAPH COSTS, and PERSONAL GOSSIP.

📜 Will writes to “Dear Lester” and opens with news that the U.S. Consul in Durban, Natal believes Lester may NEVER RECEIVE HIS KAROSS. He explains that the consul says it is FORBIDDEN TO IMPORT SKINS FROM ABROAD INTO THE U.S. unless they are proven to have been THOROUGHLY STERILIZED under U.S. supervision.

🦌 He specifically says the restriction is meant to guard against HOOF & MOUTH DISEASE, BLUE TONGUE, and other diseases found among wild beasts, adding that hoof-and-mouth disease is ENDEMIC IN BRITISH BECHUANALAND, where he bought the kaross.

💌 Will says he hopes Lester gets the item anyway, noting that he actually sent it in JANUARY 1934, and jokes that perhaps the U.S. GOVERNMENT IS STERILIZING IT ON ITS OWN INITIATIVE.

📰 The letter also shifts into publishing money matters. Will asks Lester to send him the articles printed in THE TRIBUNE, saying portions were identical to the typewritten copies he had sent in advance. He remarks that if they had been printed in full they would have brought him CHECKS FOR WELL OVER $100, but instead he received only ONE CHECK FOR $45.00 from the “WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPER.”

🌊 He then gives a strong travel narrative, explaining that he is moving along the coast of PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA, ALIAS THE COLONY OF MOZAMBIQUE, and notes that this time he is traveling not on a goods vessel but on an INTERMEDIATE PASSENGER LINER.

🇵🇹 Will is blunt about Portuguese territory. He writes that BUSINESS IN PORTUGUESE TERRITORY IS NOT TOO GOOD, complains about the ESCUDO, and says that although the currency is now strong — almost as strong as the FRENCH FRANC and much stronger than the BRITISH SHILLING — it is still STIFLING TRADE and making prices fearfully high.

📡 One of the best passages concerns communication costs: Will says he was quoted 275,000 ESCUDOS, or about £3.10.0 / roughly $18.00, for a 30-WORD CABLE to the U.S., whereas from South Africa he could have sent the same DLT (“week end letter”) for about £1.5.0 / roughly $6.00.

♠️ There is also a fun section on card playing. In LOURENÇO MARQUES he says he played PORTUGUESE BRIDGE EVERY NIGHT and, strangely enough, won — though only at 50 CENTAVOS A HUNDRED, so he did not get rich. He comments that PORTUGUESE CONTRACT RULES produced scoring very different from theirs and mentions a few “new signals.”

🏨 Will includes colorful personal gossip too, writing that “PUTS,” his little English widow in Lourenço Marques, failed to marry her PORTUGUESE GRANDEE after all because he wanted to diddle before marriage and she would not agree. He adds that Puts is a mighty nice little woman, that he might do worse than marry her himself, and notes that she now MANAGES A HOTEL IN LOURENÇO MARQUES.

🗺️ Another strong travel section says that from BEIRA he hopes to cover NEW TERRITORY, specifically the BRITISH CROWN COLONY OF NYASALAND, which he describes as a completely new little country with only about 2,000 WHITE MEN and 1,000,000 BLACKS, but quite independent of its neighbors and “a law unto itself.”

✍️ He closes with family-style personal content, mentioning Howard Dudley, Maria Stacey, Julia Graver, nieces and nephews, and says he is DISTINCTLY PEEVISH at receiving no word of thanks for his CHRISTMAS PRESENTS. The letter is signed simply: “Sincerely, Will.”

🎯 This is the kind of letter that has REAL CONTENT SELL:

• AFRICAN TRAVEL

• MOZAMBIQUE / BEIRA / NYASALAND

• UNION-CASTLE LINE SHIP LETTERHEAD

• U.S. CONSUL / IMPORT RESTRICTIONS

• KAROSS / ANIMAL SKIN QUARANTINE

• CURRENCY / TELEGRAPH COSTS

• PORTUGUESE BRIDGE

• COLONIAL GOSSIP & SOCIAL COMMENTARY

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CONDITION

📦 GOOD ANTIQUE CONDITION with expected fold wear, light toning, and normal handling from mailing/travel use. Ink remains LEGIBLE, and the UNION-CASTLE LINE / S.S. LLANSTEPHAN CASTLE letterhead displays very well.