Manuscript diary of 178 pages of full paged daily entries titled 'Diary of my sojourn abroad in the year 1894' by Jane Catherine Torrie, a young girl aged about 14 living and travelling in Algiers and France with her parents and two sisters.
The diary kept by Jane Torrie begins with a short retrospective preamble briefly describing the journey, starting 21 November [1893] from Edinburgh, to their arrival in Algiers 30 November. From 1 January 1894 there are daily entries describing the family's everyday life in Algiers and excursions made during that time. Through her diary Jane describes some of her observations of traditional life among the indiginous population but gives a more detailed account of social life among the British community in French colonial Algeria. The reason for her family wintering there or if this is their first time there is not explicitly explained but they appear to be well acquainted with their neighbours and the leading figures in the English speaking community. During the summer months the family leave North Africa and spend from May to October in France where Jane continues to make daily entries in her diary describing holidaying in Bordeaux and Normandy and the family's stay in Paris. Jane ends her diary just short of a year later with the last entry written on the last page of the volume with the family returned to Algiers.
The tone throughout the diary suggests that Jane was used to travelling and while she did take an interest in the sites she saw and the places she visited, commenting in her diary on architecture and history, her description of her experiences are written in a very matter of fact way. She records the sea crossings, the train journeys, the hotels but gives no indication that any of it is a particularly new or exciting experience. Nor does she make any reference to family, friends or her home in Scotland. She rarely, if ever, expresses strong emotions and writes in a consistently dispassionate style unusual for someone of her age.