This is a noble vessel of nearly 1000 tons register, modelled expressly for the California and China trade, and consequently designed to sail fast. She is 159 feet long on the keel, 171 between perpendiculars on deck, and 185 feet over all from the knight heads to the taffrail; her extreme breadth of beam is 36 feet, depth 22, including 7½ feet height of between decks; dead rise at half floor 17 inches, sheer 2 feet 3 inches, and swell, or rounding of sides, 1 foot. She is planked flush to the covering board, and is entirely naked forward, without head or other ornamental work, and looks neat and beautiful as a pleasure boat. Her stern is nearly semicircular in outline, and her name and port of hail in gilt letters, are the only ornaments upon it. She is sheathed with yellow metal, and painted black outside, and is as smoothly finished as joiner work.
Her bulwarks are 4 feet 9 inches high, and the monkey rail is solid; clamped inside and outside, and forms a complete belt on the top of the main rail, to which it is strongly bolted. Although she has two houses on deck, and a topgallant forecastle, still she has spacious room for working ship. Her cabin house is partly built into a half poop deck, and is 36 feet long by 21 wide and 6½ high. She has two beautiful cabins painted white, almost as brilliant and smooth as enamel, and the panels are edged with gilded mouldings. To our eye, this color looks much better than most of the cabins, which are finished with dark, fancy woods. The cabins have spacious state-rooms on each side, which are well lighted and ventilated, and elegantly furnished. A passage-way separates the pantry and two state-rooms from the cabins aft, and serves as an anteroom, with a door on each side.
The house for the crew is abaft the foremast and is 38 feet long, 16 wide and 6½ high, and also contains the galley, a store-room and two after state-rooms for the forward officers, such as the carpenter, sailmaker, &c. The bulwarks and house are painted buff color, relieved with white, and the waterways blue.
Her frame is of well seasoned Northern white oak; the hoodings, and all her hooks and between-deck stanchions, are also of oak, and her scantling is of hard pine. The keel is of rock maple, in two depths, sided 14 inches and moulded 30; the floor timbers in the throats are 15½ by 12, and the toptimbers at the planksheer, are 10 by 6½. She has three depths of midship keelsons, each 15 inches square, and sister keelsons of 10 by 15 inches. There is 1 1/8 inch copper bolt through every floor timber and the keel, 1¼ inch iron through the first keelsons, the floor timbers, and down into the keel, within three inches of its base, and the other keelsons are bolted through the navel timbers; the sister keelson are bolted through each other and the first midship keelson, and diagonally through the timbers. There is a bolt at every 7 inches along her entire back bone, independently of those in the sister keelsons. Her floor ceiling is of oak, 4 inches thick, and over the floor heads there are 2 bilge keelsons of 10 by 14 inches; then 2 strakes of 8 by 14, and the rest of the ceiling up to the stringer, is 6 inches in thickness. The stringer upon which the ends of the hanging knees rest, is 10 by 14 inches, the clamps are 7 by 14, and all the thick work extends fore and aft, and is square fastened. The between-decks waterways are 15 inches square, with two strakes over them, and one inside, all of 10 by 13 inches, crossbolted, and the ceiling above is 5½ inches thick. Her stem, apron, stern post, stern knees, hooks and pointers, are all of superior white oak, very stout and strongly fastened. The hanging and lodging knees are mostly of hacmatack, the former sided about 12 inches, with 16 bolts in each. The lower deck beams are 15 by 16, and those under the upper deck are 8 by 15, very strongly stanchioned, and the deck planking is 3½ inches thick.
Her upper deck waterways are 11 by 14 inches, the planksheer 6 inches thick, and the main and monkey rails are blended in one, as stated above.
Her garboards are 7 by 14 inches, then follow two strakes of 5½ by 14, and the bottom planking beyond is 4 inches thick, and the wales, of which there are 22 strakes, are 6 by 7 inches, and outside as well as inside, she is thoroughly square fastened and finely finished.
She is salted, has Emerson's ventilators, also ventilators in her bitts and along the line of her planksheer; a strong patent windlass, Crane's self-acting chain stoppers, improved hold pumps, a force pump, and Cheney's patent capstans. These capstans are decidedly superior to any now in use; we therefore call the attention of ship owners especially to them. She has also an iron water tank of 3200 gallons capacity, of all the other details of a first class clipper.
She has a noble set of spars, rigged in the best style. The fore and mainmasts are built, and her topmasts and jibbooms are of hard pine. The lower masts in diameter, commencing with the fore, are 32, 33 and 24 inches, and in length 73, 77 and 70 feet, with 13½, 14, and 11 feet heads; the topmasts are 15½, 16½ and 13 inches in diameters, and 43, 46 and 36 feet long, and the other masts in proportion. The lower yards are 67, 73, and 56 feet square, the topsail yards 55, 60 and 46 feet, topgallant yards 41, 46, and 35 feet, and the others in proportions. The bowsprit is 24 feet out-board, jibboom 18 feet, flying jibboom 14 feet with 6 feet end; the spanker boom 46 feet long, and the gaff 39 feet. Her spars are beautifully proportioned, and aloft as well as below, no ship appears to better advantage.
She was built at Newburyport by Mr. Jackman, who has done his best to make her what she really is, a first call slipper. He has every reason to be proud of his work. She is owned by Messrs. Bush & Wildes, of this city, and as already stated, is intended for the California and China trade. She now lies at the South side of Lewis wharf, and is loading with despatch in Messrs. Glidden & Williams's line of California clippers. Capt. H. Brown, one of our ablest sailors, commands her, and no man is better qualified to make her do her best.
Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.
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Copyright © 1997 Lars Bruzelius.