The journal describes the travels of Mark J. Stewart through British North America and the post-Civil War United States in 1865. It consists of 350 pages of hand-written text and includes 66 photographs, 16 lithographs, 3 maps, and 10 bills of currency. Stewart travelled in company with four fellow recent university graduates of Oxford and Cambridge: R. G. Hoare, John H. Kennaway, R. G. Arbuthnot, and Herbert S. Saunders. The journal is a detailed account of their tour, describing people and places, social and cultural life in Canada and the United States, from his departure on 19 August 1865 to his return on 24 December 1865.
Stewart took passage to Halifax in SS "Africa", a Cunard line steamship, making the acquaintance on board of the Bishops of Fredericton and California, and Maritime politicians Dr. Charles Tupper of Nova Scotia and Albert J. Smith of New Brunswick, who had been in London for talks on Confederation. Stewart travelled from Halifax to Annapolis Royal, remarking on the fine harbour at Halifax, the churches of Windsor, the crops and farms of the Annapolis valley, schools and education in Nova Scotia, and the vagaries of transportation by train, stage coach, and steamer. Stewart also described the condition of the black population in Annapolis Royal, said to have come from Virginia during the War of 1812. He crossed the Bay of Fundy by steamship to Saint John, New Brunswick and travelled upriver in SS "Forest Queen" to Fredericton in company with the Bishop of Fredericton, Rev. John Medley. A family of Maliseet Indians taking passage on the steamer attracted Stewart's attention, who described them and their customs in the journal. The fine farmland and natural beauty of the St. John River valley surprised and pleased him. Local hostility to Confederation was a recurring theme during his time in New Brunswick.
Stewart crossed the border into New England but, after stops in Portland and Boston, returned to British North America by way of Lake Champlain. The citadel and Montmorency Falls were points of keen interest in Quebec City. He stayed longer in Montreal witnessing to his horror a man killed under a railway car. Stewart observed the Canadian militia training at the La Prairie camp and remarked extensively on North American military matters in the aftermath of the Civil War in the United States. Moving in the higher circles of colonial society, he met Samuel L. Tilley in Montreal with whom he discussed Confederation and New Brunswick politics. Ottawa's fine new Parliament Buildings, in his opinion, made it "a capital worthy of the country stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific" and an "admirable" luncheon speech by John A. Macdonald on the federation of British North America entertained the party. Stewart took great interest in the University of Toronto, particularly in the salaries of professors, and its fledgling museum. He dined with George Brown of the "Globe" discussing politics and economics at length, in particular agriculture-wheat and cattle-and the lumber trade, and the impact of rescinding the reciprocity treaty with the United States. He also met John Sandfield MacDonald, Hon. George Allan, and Professor Daniel Wilson. Wilson described the natural history and geology of the region, explaining his theory that at one time a great inland sea had covered the area. Stewart also recorded his impressions of a home for boys in Toronto and the oil works in London and its operation.
The party crossed over to the United States again at Windsor on October 11th (p.145) travelling to Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Louis. Stewart met General William T. Sherman with whom he discussed the position of blacks in the post-war South and the valuable service they gave to his army. A map of Sherman's campaign in the South is appended to the journal. Stewart also discusses at length the condition of black freedmen during his visit to Nashville. He also records his impressions of post-war Savannah, Augusta, Charleston, Richmond, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. He sailed for home from New York in the "Scotia" on December 13th but the journal concludes with a clipping of an article he wrote for the "Dumfries and Galloway Courier", dated 26 December 1865, describing his journey.
The journal contains ten coloured lithographs of plants and leaves, six lithographs of buildings and scenes, and 66 photographs, including the suspension bridge in Saint John, Brunswick and Regent Streets in Fredericton, the Quebec Citadel, La Prairie militia camp, Victoria Bridge in Montreal, the government buildings in Ottawa, Trenton falls, and other buildings and natural features in Canada and the United States. There is also a map of North America tracing the route of his travels and a railway map of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The paper currency includes bills of the United States and the Confederate States in various denominations.
