Seeking a diversion from oppressive monotony as a pre-law student, Manet decided to enroll in France’s merchant marine to fulfill his early predilection for the sea. In his letters chronicling the four-month journey across the Atlantic on board the Havre et Guadeloupe, we are able to note, among other things, quotidian life on board a nineteenth-century sailboat, Manet’s distaste for slavery, how Manet viewed Brazilian women, and, most importantly in the context of his Kearsarge depictions, his early distaste for Louis Napoleon. I have adapted these letters and his drawings from Lettres de Jeunesse: 1848-1849 Voyage à Rio (Paris: Louis Rouart, 1928). With some assistance from Beth Archer Brombert’s Edouard Manet: Rebel in a Frock Coat, I have also translated the letters from Manet’s native French.
Saturday on board the Havre et Guadeloupe
Dear Mama,
I would regret that you did not come with me all the way to Le Havre had I not feared another separation and the farewells that are always so painful; you would have seen our magnificent vessel where we shall be as comfortable as can be; we shall have not only the essentials but even more, a degree of luxury and all the comforts to console and reassure the sad mamas who came to see their children off. I spent today arranging my belongings in my locker. There are thirty-six beds, I sleep in a hammock, and Maindreville in one of the beds.
Are we leaving tomorrow, I do not know, but at four o’clock we are going abroad, and we shall place ourselves in readiness while awaiting a favorable wind. This morning all of us filled out the forms required by the navy and we were listed with the ship’s crew. We are twenty-six on board, including a cook and a Negro chief steward. We have, in addition, a very attractive lounge in the stern where there is a piano.
Good-bye, Mama dear. I am pleased to leave though very saddened by our separation; and I hope that what Madame Maindreville tells you will completely allay your fears; the comfort we are going to enjoy astounded me (Brombert, 18).
Good-bye, Mama dear, I kiss you with all my heart.
Your respectful son,
Edouard M.
Thursday
Dear Mama,
I am beginning to get used to the hammock; I slept well tonight, something I had not been able to do yesterday; we have right now a certain pitching, produced by the vicinity of the sea; for we are in the last basin, always in waiting of a good wind; that appears to us very long from everything; our recreations took the form of climbing the masts; it promises to render me very agile.
The food leaves nothing to desire, everything that we are given is excellent; two plates of meat and dessert at each meal.
We are permitted to go on land today until eight o’clock tonight, we will descend with pleasure, I assure you.
They wanted to give us a certain militaristic air in placing on board an army man with a saber and a rifle, it is also a measure of safety; as that assures there is no way of leaving the ship.
Your letters made me very happy, dear Mama, I would wait for them; and I assure you that I will not forget your wonderful encouragements.
Your respectful son,
Edouard
Monday, 8 December 1848
Again we are in dreadful times, the sea is quite tumultuous, however we are slipping by at seven to eight knots an hour, which is working very strongly for us, we are right now at the height of the Gulf of Gascogne.
The captain was very happy with catching some seabirds, he caught a mallow, species of big white bird that you must have seen several times at Boulogne; he lets us see it; it is surprising to see this many birds so far from the coast.
Saturday night, 13 December 1848
Dear Mama,
At two in the morning, as I mentioned in my last letter, the sailor on the watchtower cried "land," we approached little by little, then we waited for the day when we would see the island of Porto-Santo; until four o’clock we saw it at a distance of four to five miles: it is a mountainous island, surrounded by rocks and inhabited only by fisherman; Madère is 25,000 away; we have poor winds and are obliged to run to the board side in order to try to go until Madère.
I drew the aspect of the island (right). My drawing will give you a precise idea. The view of it is taken with exactness. We caught a magnificent fish today, the ship master harpooned an enormous porpoise, we hoisted it with much pain on the bridge, it is a very extraordinary fish that has the beak of a duck and of which the jaw is surrounded by a range of small, white, and acute teeth; we ate some of it, its flesh tastes like beef, it is not bad at all, one eats it when it is sautéed in the frying pan.
22 December 1848).
It seems to me months since I came aboard. How boring is the life of a sailor. Nothing but sky and water, always the same thing, it is stupid (Brombert, 22).
Wednesday, 10 January 1849
We met two English ships today, two small brigs, we passed side to side, only one saluted us. We didn’t have the luck to meet any French steamers to allay our anxiety over what has happened and is happening in Paris; we limit ourselves to conjecturing on the outcome of nominating one presidential candidate or another.
The heat is beginning to be felt, we are in summer, we choke in our post.
Saturday, 13 January 1849
We always have very good weather, but the frightening heat is unbearable due to the thirst that continually torments us.
In Rio de Janeiro
Dear Mama,
I announced to you in my last letter our arrival in Rio. The bay as I said is charming, we had time to admire it from the ship for we only went on land that Sunday following our arrival…
After lunch I left with my new friend to traverse the whole town. It is rather big, the roads are very small however, but for a European with any artistic sense it has a character all its own; one only meets in the streets black men and black women; the Brazilian men go out little and the Brazilian women even less; we only see them when they go to Mass or at night after dinner; they remain at their windows and at that you can watch them at your leisure, whereas during the day if by accident they are at their windows and they notice somebody watching them they will retreat at once. In this country, all the blacks are slaves; all these poor creatures look downtrodden; the power that whites have over them is extraordinary. I saw a slave market, for us this is really a revolting sight (Brombert, 27)...I was not able to draw the ship-master since we could not find him in Rio, the captian begged me to give drawing lessons to my shipmates, setting me up as a master of drawing; he said to me that throughout the voyage, I had made a reputation for myself, such that all the officers and the professors asked me for their caricature. The captain even asked me for his as a New Year’s gift; I had the joy to content everybody and adhere to their requests.
In Rio, Monday, 26 February 1849 (to his cousin Jules Dejouy)
The Carnival is a very strange thing; I saw myself in it, like everyone else, as victim and actor; all the townswomen came to their windows for three hours throwing limons, or balls of wax filled with water, at the men that passed below…Brazilian women are generally attractive but don’t deserve the reputation for flirtatiousness attributed to them in France; no one is more prudish or stupid than a Brazilian woman (Brombert, 29)…
…Now I know Rio; I ardently desire to return to France at the earliest possible convenience to be with you all. We might go until the Bay or some other port on the coast.
Why this change of housing? That surprises me. Do you have, therefore, real fears in your place? What do you say, you big politician, of the nomination of L. Napoleon; don’t go nominating him emperor, that would be too funny.
In Rio On Board the Havre et Guadeloupe, 11 March 1849 (to his brother Eugene)
…Jules wrote to me, as you must know; he told me he left Guénegard, it was so good for him, wasn’t it? I will hope that despite Louis Napoleon to find him a substitute on my return…
In Rio On Board the Havre et Guadeloupe, 22 March 1849
Dear Papa,
…There are parties in Rio everyday, religious festivals that are ardently observed due to the large number of monks.
You had again emotions in Paris, try to keep for our return a healthy Republic, for I well and truly fear that L. Napoleon is not a very good republican…