Name: Elizabeth
Surname: Bisland, in Wetmore
Birth: Fairfax, 11 February 1861
Profession: journalist for the magazine Cosmopolitan.
Upon learning of Nellie Bly’s imminent departure, the magazine’s editor summoned her at 10:30 AM on November 14, 1889: “When I arrived, the editor and publisher of the magazine asked me if I would accept leaving New York that very evening for San Francisco and from there embark on a journey around the world, attempting to complete it in an absurdly inadequate amount of time”. The goal was to beat Nellie Bly’s record.
That same evening, November 14, 1889—the very day Bly set off—Elizabeth departed from New York, but in the opposite direction, heading toward San Francisco. She carried a well-sized steamer trunk, a large Gladstone bag, and a shoulder strap bag.
She boarded a fast postal train with a single sleeping car and a private compartment for the general director, making its debut on that journey, allowing her to gain a full day on the usual travel time. She arrived in Oakland and then embarked for San Francisco. After an overnight stop, on November 21, she set sail for Japan.
Adolphe Philibert, Dubois de Jancigny, Japon, Indo-Chine, Empire Birman (ou Ava), Siam, Annam (ou Conchinchine), Péninsule Malaise […], Paris, Firmin Didot frères, 1850 ©Vatican Apostolic Library
From Hong Kong, she boarded the Oceanic White Star of the British White Star Line, operated by the Occidental & Oriental Steamship Company (O&O), bound for Ceylon. On January 1, 1890, she headed north, stopping first at the Gulf of Aden, then at Port Said, and finally at Candia. On January 16, Elizabeth landed in Brindisi, where she took the English train that crossed Italy and France, bringing P&O passengers home five days ahead of the Indian and Australian mail service. This was a postal train with a passenger carriage, reserved for the English and colonial residents—only in their absence could others board.
She continued to Paris but missed the Transatlantique ship, which had already left Le Havre. In reality, it had waited for her for hours, but due to a misunderstanding, she failed to board. After a few days of delay, she crossed the English Channel, arrived in Dublin, and then in Queenstown, where she embarked on the Bothnia for the United States.
On January 30, 1890, she arrived in Staten Island and described her return: “The ship glided into the dock. I could see the happy faces of my friends on the pier. My journey was over. I had traveled around the world in seventy-six days”.
From Bisland’s own book, A Flying Trip Around the World. In Seven Stages. A Novel (tr. it. R. Cavalieri, Bologna 2023), we find details about her luggage and the spirit that animated her journey as a solo female traveler:
“I managed to complete the journey with two fabric dresses, half a dozen lightweight bodices, and a silk evening gown, though I could have easily carried my entire winter wardrobe and much of my summer one. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring plenty of pins and hairpins“.
“During the trip, various necessary additions to my wardrobe had expanded the contents of my small trunk so much that only careful packing—and an emphatic sitting session by me and the maid—finally managed to close it completely“.
Women’s Rights Issue: Elizabeth Bisland recounted:
“I was a young woman, completely alone, undertaking something rather conspicuous and eccentric, yet throughout the entire journey, I encountered nothing but the most exquisite and unwavering courtesy and care; I could not have felt safer or happier if I had been a princess with a crowded entourage. I believe that the fact that a woman is more protected precisely when she is not, speaks highly of every civilization, in all parts of the world I traveled through.”
Next: Annie Londonderry