ROUND CAPE HORN.
VOYAGE
OF THE
PASSENGER-SHIP JAMES W. PAIGE,
FROM MAINE TO CALIFORNIA IN THE YEAR 1852.
BY J. LAMSON.
[Illustration]
BANGOR:
PRESS OF O. F. & W. H. KNOWLES.
1878.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by
J. LAMSON,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, in Washington.
TO
My Fellow-Passengers,
AS A REMINDER OF MANY PLEASANT SCENES ENJOYED,
AND MANY ANNOYANCES ENDURED DURING OUR
VOYAGE, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
PREFACE.
A voyage round Cape Horn in a passenger-ship is an event of the past.
The necessity for performing this perilous voyage has been obviated by
the introduction of railroads and steamships. Emigrants and travelers
are no longer obliged to risk their lives and waste their time in
passing round the Stormy Cape in order to arrive at a point, which may
be reached in a week by a pleasant ride across the continent on the
railroad; and Cape Horn is destined to become a terra incognita to all
but the readers of ancient voyages.
I am not aware that a narrative of a voyage of this description has
ever been published; and the hope that a truthful account of the
perils, discomforts, and annoyances, as well as the pleasures and
enjoyments attending it, may prove entertaining to the reader, has
prompted me to send forth this little work to meet the fate or fortune
which an enlightened public may award it.
The scenes and anecdotes recorded at the end of the voyage, are given
in the hope that they may possess some slight value as conveying
an idea--a vague and indistinct one, perhaps--of some of the
characteristics and habits of a portion of the people of California in
early times.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Description of the Bark--She sets Sail--Uncomfortable
Situation--Specimen of our Discomforts--A Squall--Escape from
a Waterspout--Approach to the Cape Verde Islands--Religious
Services--A School of Porpoises--A Dutch Vessel--A
Flying-fish--Annoyances--Bad Cooking--A Practical Joke--Tropic of
Cancer 13
CHAPTER II.
Consultations about Cape Verde Islands--Flying-fish--English
Steamer--Tropical Showers--Disappointment--Capture of a
Porpoise--May-Day at Sea--An English Bark--Letters for
Home--Another Bark--Nautical Ceremonies--An Aquatic Bird--Crossing
the Equator--Squalls--A Portuguese Brig--Captain J. engages
to stop at Rio Janeiro--Land Seen--Cape Frio--Approach to Rio
Janeiro--Beautiful Scenery--Disappointment 21
CHAPTER III.
A Mistake Discovered and Corrected--Ill Health--Scenery of the Coast
and Harbor of Rio Janeiro--We cast Anchor--Going Ashore--Rambles
in the City--Fountains--Markets--Parrots--Hammer-headed
Sharks--Monkeys--Slaves--Tropical Trees--Visit to a Hotel--English
Gentlemen--Public Gardens 29
CHAPTER IV.
Visit to the Botanical Garden--Description of the Garden--Dinner
at the Hotel--Third Visit to the City--Impudence of the First
Mate--Village of San Domingo--A Walk in the Country--Attacked by
Dogs--Beautiful Plantations--Civility of a Planter--Elegant Mansion
and Grounds--A Retreat--A Fine Road--Return to the Ship--Supply of
Fruit--The North America--Mr. Kent, our Consul 36
CHAPTER V.
Weigh Anchor--Civility of the People of Rio--Temperance--An
Altercation--Cold Weather--Cape Pigeons--Large Bird--Our Kitchen
Establishment--Stewards and Cooks--Scouse--Inspection of Cooks'
Galley--A Joke--A Squall--An Altercation--Captain J. and Mrs.
L----t--Cape Pigeons--Oranges 46
CHAPTER VI.
A Disagreeable Scene--Scarcity of Oil--Lamps and Slush--An
Albatross--Ill Manners of the Mate--Cold Weather--The Whiffletree
Watch--Disagreeable Scene--Magellan Clouds and Southern Cross--An
Act of Kindness--Turnovers and Sport--Tierra del Fuego and Staten
Land--A Perilous Passage--Ducks and Cape Pigeons--A Squall--A Black
Albatross--Cape Horn--Stormy Weather--A Gale--Accident at the
Breakfast Table 54
CHAPTER VII.
Severe Cold--Furious Storm--Diego Ramirez Islands--Land
Ahead--Cape Horn Weather--Two Vessels--Length of Days and
Nights--Disagreeable Brawl--Heading North--Patagonia--The
Andes--Another Storm--Anxiety of Captain J.--A Lunar
Rainbow--Another Gale--Bill of Fare--Filthy Cooks and
Impure Water 63
CHAPTER VIII.
Captain Jackson--A Drifting Spar--Approaching
Talcahuana--Washing-day--Landscapes--Harbor of
Talcahuana--Pelicans--A Visit from Officials--Description of the
Town--American Houses--Tremont House--A Dinner 72
CHAPTER IX.
Character of the Inhabitants--Agricultural Implements--Lassoing
Cattle--Poncho--A Covered Wagon--Wild Doves--An Earthquake--An
Excursion--Dogs, Women, Children, and Shells--A Scotchman and his
Wine--An Adventure and the Calaboose--A Chilian Musket Fished
Up--An Affecting Incident--Fruit Market--Leave Talcahuana--An
Explanation--Theft in the Cooks' Galley--Disinterested
Advice--Uneasiness of Mrs. L----t and Captain J. 80
CHAPTER X.
Religious Services--A Beautiful Bird--Departure of Cape Pigeons
and Albatrosses--Stormy Petrels--Amusements--Harmony among
the Passengers--Mrs. L----t and her Child--Violence of Captain
J.--Our Chaplain turns Poet--Captain J.'s rest disturbed by the
Passengers--He threatens to blow them through--Sugar--Petty
Annoyances--A Rag Baby--Our Chaplain and his Revolver--
Change of Weather--Uncomfortable Condition of the Main
Cabin--Theft of Raisins--Ship's Stores--Gross Negligence--Great
Waste of Scouse 90
CHAPTER XI.
An Arbitrary Prohibition--Card Playing and Checker
Playing--Dancing--Treachery of Mr. Johnson--Some Passengers--A
Comical Character, and a Pugnacious Character--A Beautiful
Bird--Closing the Hatches--A Question of Jurisdiction--The Hatches
Re-opened--A Sudden Transformation--Neglected Duties of the
Chaplain--His Influence with the Captain 99
CHAPTER XII.
Head Winds--The Dusky Albatross--Tacking Ship--Fishing for
Birds--Amusement of the Mate and Passengers--A Poet--Fair Winds--A
Porpoise--A Fight in the Main Cabin--My Journal--Opinions of Mr.
Johnson--Meeting in the Main Cabin--Schools of Porpoises--Narrow
Escape from Shipwreck--An Act of Charity 107
CHAPTER XIII.
Whales--Sunshine--The Pacific Ocean and Tom Moore--Wormy Bread and
Impure Water--A Pilot--Arrival in the Harbor of San Francisco--The
City--Dismantled Ships--My last Visit to the Bark--Statement and
Counter Statement--Angry Remonstrance--Mr. Spring and his two
Journals--Final Adieu to the James W. Paige 114
CALIFORNIA SCENES.
Scenes in Sacramento. 121
Cattle Stealing in Contra Costa. 123
Felling Trees in the Redwoods. 127
Solitude. 129
A Collector of Natural Curiosities. 130
A Pair of Rattlesnakes. 133
A Queer Fellow. 135
A Sandwich Island Woman and her Yankee Husband. 137
A Party. 139
Indians and Their Costumes. 145
The Yosemite Falls. 148
The Domes. 149
Farewell to the Yosemite. 151
The California Vulture. 152
My Skill at Rifle Shooting. 154
Incident at a Camp-meeting. 155
[Illustration]
OFFICERS, PASSENGERS AND CREW
OF THE
BARK JAMES W. PAIGE.
Joseph Jackson, _Master_; Horace Atwood, _First Mate_; Dudley P.
Gardner, _Second Mate_; E. S. Blake, E. P. Holden, Stephen Walker, W.
B. Webber, Cyrus E. Gould, Michael Cashman, John Tobin, Hiram Draper,
Michael Feeney, M. V. Wall, W. Grant, Philip Keen, George Reynolds,
Tim Scannell, Ithiel Gordon, Willard Heath, Elisha Osgood, G. A.
Brown, J. S. Brown, Geo. L. Pierce, Leonard Stinson, S. H. Bachelder,
J. F. Dolliff, Joel D. Thompson, Eben Toothaker, J. S. Russell, H.
Whitney, Geo. A. Emery, Stephen Pierce, A. F. Johnson, William Shaw,
Stover Clark, J. Wentworth, G. French, W. Marshall, L. Sherman, Alfred
Fletcher, G. E. Morton, E. F. Starr, S. H. Sanger, James Carlow, W.
Spring, M. Sawtelle, D. Worster, Ivory Matthews, Rev. John Johnson,
S. P. Lawrence, ---- Hodsdon, William Lamson, Horace McKoy, Charles
Hollom, Samuel Murray, J. Lamson, Jonathan Tyler, Thomas Ladd, Noah
Andrews, L. Wakeman, J. Colborn, Wm. Smith, O. E. Smith, John Day,
Thos. Foster, John Magrath, W. Footman, J. Jackson, James Concord, T.
W. Dolliff, David Tinney, J. T. Bickford, B. D. Morrill, J. Montgomery,
Stillman Sawyer, J. C. Pullen, S. Kelley, Mrs. Draper, Mrs. Grant, Miss
J. Spaulding, Mrs. H. G. Brown, Mrs. S. J. Brown and Daughter, Miss M.
L. Brown, Mrs. J. P. Lawrence, Mrs. L----t and Daughter.
ROUND CAPE HORN.
CHAPTER I.
Description of the Bark--She sets Sail--Uncomfortable
Situation--Specimen of our Discomforts--A Squall--Escape from
a Waterspout--Approach to the Cape Verde Islands--Religious
Services--A School of Porpoises--A Dutch Vessel--A
Flying-fish--Annoyances--Bad Cooking--A Practical Joke--Tropic of
Cancer.
The Bark James W. Paige of 240 tons burthen, was fitted up for a
passenger ship in the latter part of the winter of 1852, by James
Dunning and Joseph Nickerson of Bangor, Maine. A portion of the hold
was made into a cabin with fourteen double berths on each side.
Fifty-two passengers occupied this room. A small house with berths
for fourteen passengers and a state-room for the captain was built
over the cabin, and enclosed the companion-way or stairs leading down
to the cabin. This cabin was called the after cabin, to distinguish
it from the room in the hold, which was named the forward or main
cabin; and the house was called the after house. Another house was
constructed over the main cabin, in which lodged the mate and four
or five passengers. The after cabin was appropriated to the ladies,
though singularly enough, the Rev. Mr. Johnson, who, we were told,
had been employed to officiate as our chaplain, was assigned a berth
in this cabin, much to the annoyance of a portion of the ladies. The
sailors occupied the forecastle. The cook's galley, a very important
part of the ship's appointments, was placed between the two houses.
These houses did not occupy the whole width of the deck, but a narrow
space was left for a walk round them. There was also a small open space
between the cook's galley and the after house, and at the ends of the
houses.
Our bark, though owned in Bangor, lay at Frankfort, twelve miles below
the city, where she was fitted up, in consequence of the river being
closed by the ice at that season of the year, down to the latter town.
Many delays occurred before all our preparations were made, but at last
all was ready, and we dropped down the river to Prospect, where we took
on board our last passenger, and on the third day of April, 1852, we
bade adieu to the ice and snow of Maine, and with a heavy gale of wind
were soon driven out to sea.
We were fortunate in the beginning of our voyage in having strong
and fair gales of wind, which drove us rapidly on our course; but we
had at the same time much wet, drizzling weather, which soon enabled
us to discover that our ship was an old and leaky thing, and that
our houses, though new, had been so carelessly constructed, that the
water came in freely upon us, wetting our berths, and rendering our
situation exceedingly uncomfortable. Add to this the fact that our
ship, being in ballast, rolled so badly that we could not stand for a
moment without clinging with both hands to our berths or some other
fixture for support, and that nearly all of us were suffering severely
with seasickness, and I think it will not be difficult to convince the
reader that our condition was far from agreeable.
The following may serve as a specimen of our discomforts: I lay in my
berth in the after house--on the second night of our voyage,--suffering
from intolerable nausea and equally intolerable thirst. The vessel
rolled violently; the rain was dropping from the leaky roof into my
face and on my bedclothes. The passengers were running to and fro in
much confusion, and the voice of the captain was loudly heard in giving
orders to the sailors, who were sent aloft to take in sail, for a
squall had struck us. The trunks in our cabin were dashing from side
to side, breaking chairs and stools and whatever else came in their
way. The earthern ware in the lockers was slipping about and crashing
up in a style that threatened its speedy demolition. All was noise and
confusion. The winds whistled, howled and screamed, the sails flapped,
the waves dashed against the sides of the vessel and over the decks,
keeping a stream of water running back and forth as we rolled and
pitched, and tossed over the seas. An unlucky wave, higher than the
rest, stove a boat that hung at the davits, and added greatly to the
confusion and apprehension which pervaded the ship. The storm, though
with frequent lulls, continued for several days. During one night the
trunks and chests in the main cabin were tumbled about so furiously,
that they beat down the stairs. A barrel of pork was upset, and the
brine, dashing across the floor, so frightened a poor fellow, who
thought the vessel had sprung a leak, that he scrambled up into our
house, and sat up all night.
A day or two after this I heard, as I lay in my berth, an unusual
commotion on deck, and the captain was giving orders in a loud voice
and a quick and hurried manner. In a few moments I learned that we
had but just barely escaped a waterspout, which had passed within
less than the ship's length to the leeward of us. Sick as I was, I
deeply regretted that I was not up to see it. I may never have another
opportunity to witness such a phenomenon.
_Sunday, 18th April._ Latitude 29°, 25' N. Longitude 29° 71' W. from
Greenwich. We have reached a warmer and more comfortable climate. We
have exchanged the cold stormy blasts, the wintry winds of Maine, for
mild and gentle breezes and a warm sun, and we feel a sense of comfort
in the change that is exceedingly exhilarating. I have nearly recovered
from seasickness, from which I believe no other passenger has suffered
so severely, but it leaves me much enfeebled. We are approaching the
Cape Verde Islands, which we hope to see in the course of three or four
days.
We have had religious services on deck to-day. Our chaplain gave us
a sensible written discourse, which was listened to with attention.
We had good singing, and the services were conducted with a degree of
propriety that would have afforded an excellent example for imitation
by some of the congregations I have seen in our churches.
Soon after the close of the services our company was enlivened by the
sight of a school of porpoises; and Sherman, one of the passengers
who had made several voyages, made an attempt to capture one of them.
Taking a harpoon to which a long line was attached, he dropped into the
chains under the bowsprit, and watched for the porpoises as they came
plunging swiftly through the water beneath him. It required no small
degree of skill and dexterity to strike them. There he stood looking
intently into the water with his harpoon raised, when suddenly a group
of the animals came within striking distance. In an instant he thrust
his weapon into one of them, and the line was pulled in by men who were
stationed on deck for the purpose. The fish was brought to the surface,
but in his struggles he broke away from the harpoon and escaped, and
in a few moments the whole school, as if warned of their danger, had
disappeared. We have not a great variety of amusements on board our
vessel, and such a circumstance as this serves to infuse a good deal
of life into us. A school of porpoises, a few stray sea birds, and a
distant sail constitute nearly all we have to relieve the monotony of
our voyage. Up to this time we have spoken but one vessel. I lay in
my berth one night dreaming pleasantly of friends at home, when I was
awakened by the hoarse voice of our captain hailing a bark that was at
that moment passing. She was a Dutch vessel homeward bound. The Dutch
captain had some difficulty in understanding ours, and asked three
times where we were bound, though answered each time very distinctly
"Cal-i-for-ny."
_April 19._ This morning the mate found a flying-fish. It had flown in
during the night, probably in attempting to escape the dolphin, which
is its greatest enemy. It was about ten inches in length, with fins
five or six inches, which serve as wings in the short flights it makes
over the water. Some of our men saw a large turtle floating by us. It
had a voyage of several hundred miles to make before it could reach
land.
We are not without many annoyances, and one very serious one arises
from the bad cooking of our food, and often from want of a sufficient
quantity of it. Our cooks are excessively filthy, and it requires a
strong stomach to enable one to swallow the messes they set before us.
Many complaints have been made of this state of things to the captain,
and to-day we have presented him with a written protest signed by every
man in our room, but without effecting any improvement.
Time passes irksomely with many of our passengers, and they often
resort to odd expedients in order to wear away the weary hours. When
other sources of amusement fail, they sometimes find enjoyment in
playing practical jokes on each other. We had an instance of this sort
of recreation to-day. A ship was seen to windward in the morning,
and standing in the same direction with us. Some one of the party
pronounced her a pirate. This was found to operate on the fears of one
of the passengers, a simple, honest, credulous fellow, who believed
others to be as honest as himself, and a grand frolic was arranged to
come off at night at his expense. It was therefore reported that the
pirate, though she had fallen several miles astern, had sent a boat
to board us, and accordingly several of the men armed themselves with
their rifles and revolvers, and prepared to defend the ship. Several
barrels were thrown overboard in the dark to represent the piratical
boat, and these were fired at as they floated by the ship. Then came
a man tumbling and rolling about with terrible groans and yells,
pretending to be wounded, and a moment after a cry went through the
ship that the pirates were boarding us. The poor fellow for whose
benefit all this hubbub was gotten up, was at that moment passing by my
berth, and I heard him responding to the cry--"They _are_ boarding us,
they _are_ boarding us! where's a handspike?" and he ran and unshipped
a pump handle in an instant, and hastened to the spot where the
supposed attack was made, determined to make a desperate defence. That
he would have fought bravely had there been occasion for it, no one had
a doubt, while it was suspected that some of his persecutors would have
preferred retreating to fighting under any circumstances. The cracking
of the rifles and revolvers, and the uproar all over the ship, awoke
the captain, who got up in no very amiable mood, but he soon got into
the humor of the frolic, and laughed as heartily as any of them.
_April 21._ Our longitude to-day at noon was 23° W., latitude 23°
50' N. We were then twenty-one miles from the Tropic of Cancer. It
is now sunset. We have passed the tropic, and are now sailing in the
torrid zone. It is an epoch in my life. I have talked with several of
my fellow passengers about it, but they see nothing to interest them
in the circumstance. This _tropic_ is not a thing to be seen--there
is nothing tangible in it. And as for the torrid zone, they do not
perceive any very great difference between that and the temperate zone
we have just left. I am now sitting at the stern of the ship, enjoying
a mild soft sea breeze and a beautiful twilight. We often have richer
sunsets in Maine, and the twilight continues much longer; but there is
here, while it continues, a softness and a delicate blending of the
different tints of purple, azure and gold, which we do not always see
in our northern latitudes. Our men are lying or sitting about the decks
and upon the houses, many in groups engaged in conversation, some of
them spinning long yarns, and others listening to an interesting song
wherein is related the history of "a beautiful fair maid of high degree
with black hair and milk white cheeks, and her galliant lovyer," while
here and there may be seen one quietly communing with his own thoughts,
which the friends he has left three thousand miles distant suggest to
him.
The ladies at the beginning of the voyage were confined a large portion
of the time to their cabin by sickness. But since their recovery they
spend many hours on deck every fair day; and as they are under the
necessity of going through our room in passing to and from their cabin,
we are in a fair way of becoming acquainted with them.
_April 22._ We are now but three hundred and fifty miles distant from
the coast of Africa, and about five hundred miles north of the Cape
Verde Islands. We have sailed sharp on the wind during several days,
hoping each day to fall in with the north-east trade-winds that are
to waft us to the coast of South America. But we have not been so
fortunate as to find the trades, and this morning we have but little
wind in any direction. The sea, though rolling in long undulations, is
very smooth, and the sails are flapping idly against the masts.
[Illustration]