The University of Iowa Libraries

In July 1893, a group of 21 University of Iowa students, alumni, and professors returned to Iowa City by train at the conclusion of the 83-day Bahama Expedition. In tow were more than 15,000 specimens of fish, birds, mammals, and insects collected from the Florida Dry Tortugas, the Bahamas, and Cuba. These specimens were for study and exhibit at the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History.

This was the fourteenth scientific expedition by the University since 1886, and was led by Charles C. Nutting. His research was focused on birds and hydroids–carnivorous sea animals that live in colonies attached to rocks.

The page featured here is from the travel journal of William Larrabee, Jr., a graduating senior, star quarterback, and son of an Iowa Governor. Inscribed on the fly leaf of his journal, the introduction reads, “I am here to write up the personals of the trip with amusing incidents that happened.” Larrabee’s accounts are humorous, and they also provide interesting details of nineteenth century sea travel and a view of Cuban culture five years prior to the Spanish-American War.

Larrabee penned his thoughts candidly about how the group interacted, for better or for worse. The entry displayed here relates the rescue of one female student thrown overboard by the turbulent water. The risks, the strenuous work of dredging for specimens, and the elation of participants are described.