This is a very beautiful vessel of 1100 tons, designed to sail fast, and carry a fair cargo. She is 176 feet long between perpendiculars on deck, 198 feet from the knight-heads to the taffrail; has 36 feet extreme breadth of beam, and 22 feet depth of hold. She has 15 inches dead rise at half floor, seven inches rounding of sides, and about three feet sheer. Her ends are sharp, her lines convex; and her bow has an easy, graceful rake, with a slight flare above the line of the planksheer. A full figure of the lion-hearted monarch, in armor, ornaments her bow, and his escutcheon is blazoned on the stern, in the apex of an arch of gilded carved work. Her stern is nearly semicircular in outline, has little projection beyond the sternpost, and is very snug and neat. The mouldings of her main rail and planksheer are parallel fore and aft, and the latter is painted orange-color, and will probably be gilded, if the weather will permit. As it is, it looks quite neatly, and relieves the black outline of the hull. She is sheathed with yellow metal, and is planked flush to the covering board, and painted black; inside she is white. Her bulwarks are about 4½ feet high, and the monkey rail is planked solid inside and outside the whole width of the main rail, and is bolted through it, thus giving her a substantial outline as a protection to the bulwarks.
The quarters for the crew are under the topgallant forecastle, and are a few feet below the upper deck. They are spacious, well arranged, and neatly fitted up. Abaft the foremast is a small house, a part of which contains the galley, and the remainder is fitted for the accommodation of boys. A platform of iron water-tanks ranges next aft, and over these, her long boat is stowed bottom up, and lies both low and snug, clear of the main hatchway. Her quarter-boats are between the main and mizzen rigging, and their davits are made to swing inboard, or outboard, as required. She has a half poop deck, with a small house in front, which contains the pantry and state-rooms for the officers, and abaft these is a passage across, which leads to the cabins. Her after cabin is tastefully wainscotted with mahogany, relieved with enamelled pilasters and cornices, edged with gilded mouldings and flowers. An oval mirror over the transom, gives a reflected view of the cabin, and there is a fine sofa aft, corresponding in outline with the curve of the stern. The furniture is costly and neatly arranged. A spacious door amidships leads to the forward cabin, which is painted and grained, and furnished in fine style. Both cabins have spacious state-rooms and other apartments on each side, and the accommodations for passengers are all that could be desired for safety and comfort.
Her frame, wales, hooks, pointers, and most of her knees are of New Hampshire white oak, and her ceiling of hard pine. Her keel is in two depths, each 16 inches square, the floor timbers are 12 by 17, and she has two depths of midship keelsons, which combined side 16 inches and mould 32, and she has also sister-keelsons of 12 inches square, the whole bolted with copper and iron, the copper having been driven through the first midship keelson, every floor timber and the keel, and riveted outside, and the iron in the usual style. To avoid repetition, we may as well state once for all, that she is square fastened throughout, and butt and bilge bolted with copper. The floor ceiling is 5 inches thick, and over the first futtocks there are three strakes of 10 by 12 inches, and the ceiling above is graduated to 7 inches thickness on to the deck. The lower deck beams are 14 inches square, and those under the upper deck are 10 by 14 inches. The between decks waterways are 14 inches square, the strake over them 8 by 14, that inside of them 8 by 10, and the deck plank is 3 inches thick. The ceiling above the standing strake, is 5 inches, the upper deck waterways are 12 by 14 inches, the covering board is 6 inches, and the decks are of white pine, 3½ inches thick, which is copper fastened fore and aft.
The garboards are seven inches thick, the next strake six, graduated to five inches, the substance of her bottom planking, and her wales are white oak of six by eight inches, square fastened with locust treenails and butt-bolted with copper.
She has massive books and pointers, which cross all the cants diagonally and horizontally in both ends, oak knees connected with the lower deck beams, and hacmatack knees with those under the upper deck. Without enumerating all her details, we can safely say that, in materials, fastening and workmanship, she is not surpassed, if equalled, by any vessel of her size that we know.
She has a patent windlass, good ground tackle, two capstans, one of them of Allyn's patent, the best capstan now in use, the good old fashioned gun-tackle steering apparatus, a powerful force-pump, copper hold pumps, and iron water tank below, of 3600 gallons capacity, and every other improvement now in general use.
Her fore and mainmast are built in the usual style, her topmasts and jibboom are of hard pine, her standing rigging of the best of Russia hemp, fitted in excellent style, and her running rigging of Manila hemp. Her lower masts, commencing with the fore, are 80, 82 and 76 feet long; topmasts 43½, 46 and 40 feet, lower yards 69, 73 and 56 feet square; topsail yards 55, 58 and 46 feet, and the other spars in proportion. She has pole topgallant and royal masts, &c.; but looks quite snug aloft, and even light compared with other clippers. To our eye she is reasonably sparred, and we think she will carry her canvass well, and sail swiftly.
This fine vessel was built at Portsmouth, N.H., by Mr. George Raynes, the builder of the Witch of the Wave, Sea Serpent, Wild Pigeon, Tinqua, and many other swift vessels, and like them, will doubtless give a good account of herself. She is owned by Wm. F. Parrott, Esq., of this city, and is commanded by Capt. Geo. W. Tucker, who has the reputations of being an excellent sailor.
At present she lies at the south side of Lewis, wharf and is loading with despatch in Messrs. Glidden & Williams' line of San Francisco clippers.
Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.
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