The New Clipper Barque Bounding Billow.

This is a remarkably fine vessel of 360 tons register, with sharp, concave ends below, but convex above, and beautiful moulded for speed. She is 125 feet long on deck, between perpendiculars, has 27½ feet breadth of beam, 12 feet depth of hold, 12 inches dead rise at half floor, 6 inches swell, and 18 inches sheer. Her bow is very neatly formed, very sharp and clipperly below, flares as it rises, and is ornamented with a bust of Neptune, and gilded carved wotk. Her stern is nearly oval in outline, and is also ornamented with an arch of gilded carved work, and the vessel herself is copper-bottomed, and painted black outside. Inside she is pearl color, relieved with blue along the waterways. She has a snug half-poop deck, which extends to the after part of the main rigging, and its after part contains a neat cabin, fitted with staterooms and other apartments for the accommodation of passengers. The forward part of the poop is well adapted for light freight and stores. Abaft the foremast is ahouse, which contains quarters for the crew, the galley, &c., leaving her hold, except the drop of the cabin deck, entirely clear for the stowage of cargo. She has a top-gallantforecastle the height of the rail, with a capstan on it, and thre is also a capstan on the poop. Her bulwarks, house and the from of the poop are panelled; and she has mahogany gangway boards, and teak stanchions to her monkey rail, and looks finely on deck.

Her frame is of white oak, and from the bilge to the deck she is square-fastened and bilge-bolted with composition.

Her keel is 14 by 18 inches, floor timbers 10 by 12, and she has two depths of midship keelsons, bolted alternately through the floor and navel timbes and the keel, with composition and iron, in the usual style. Her floor ceiling is 4 inches thick, and on the bilge are two strakes of 8 by 14 inches, and the ceiling above varies from 6 to 5 inches. Under the hanging knees is a stout stringer, which extends fore and aft, and the hanging knees are sided from 8 to 10 inches, and have 18 bolts and 4 spikes in each. The beams are 10 by 14 inches, and are well stanchioned and secured with lodging knees, which scarph together in every berth, as well as the hanging knees under them. Her outside planking varies from 4 to 5 inches in thickness, and is square-fastened with treenails, well butt and bilge-bolted, and finished in excellent style. Her upper-deck waterways are 14 inches square, her planksheer and main rail each 5 inches thick, and deck plank 3 inches. She is well cound in boats and ground tackle, has Emerson's ventilators, and all the other improvements of the day.

She is barque-rigged, and has fine, raking spars, painted white. Her lower masts, commencing with the fore, are 54, 58, and 53 feet long -- topmasts, &c. on the fore and main alike, viz., 34, 18, 11, and pole 8 feet, mizzen tomats 26 feet long, bowsprit 16 feet out-board, jibboom 14 feet outside of the cap, and flying jibboom 10, with 5 feet end; yards upon the fore and main masts alike, 57, 47, 36 and 25 feet square. She is well rigged and looks beautifully aloft.

This spendid vessel was built at Chelsea by Mr. Jotham Stetson, and she does him credit for the excellence of her workmanship. She is owned by Mesrs. Lombard & Co., and is commanded by Capt. Levi Smith. We consider this beautiful clipper admirably adapted for the Mediterranean trade, for she must prove a very fast sailer, although she has good stowage capacity, for her register. Good luck to her.


September 29, 1854.
The Boston Daily Atlas, September 29, 1854.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius


Sjöhistoriska Samfundet | The Maritime History Virtual Archives.

Copyright © 1996 Lars Bruzelius.