As captains grew toward middle age, and the children were old enough to be left at home with relatives or put into boarding-school, their wives not infrequently accompanied them on the long voyages “to some port or ports in Europe at the discretion of the captain,” as his orders might cite; or farther afield to “Bombay and such ports in the East Indies or China as the captain may determine, the voyage not to exceed two years”—or a longer matter when profit was found in cruising back and forth between the Indies and the ports “down under.” But wherever the port might be, there were sure to be Yankee ships, and many were the visits between ship and ship, commanded, perhaps, by old neighbors at home; more formal festivities ashore were offered by consignees, or the American consul, or a foreign acquaintance that was renewed from voyage to voyage. In 1844 a Barnstable captain wrote from France: “Dunkirk and Bordeaux are fine places and contain many curiosities to us. We had more invitations to dine than we wished as the dinners in this country are very lengthy, say from three to four hours before you rise from the table, and then not dry. To-day we have been to the Bordeaux Mechanical Exposition or Fair, and it is splendid. There are nine American vessels here, and five of the captains have their wives.” These Barnstable captains and their families, when in New York, used to stop at a hotel opposite Fulton Ferry, and when they went uptown of an evening to the Crystal Palace or the theatre or opera, they would charter a special Fulton Ferry ’bus for the journey. And if the voyage began with an American port of call, at New Orleans, we will say, there was plenty of gayety—balls, theatre-parties, opera, and oyster-suppers—and more than once a young shipmaster was captivated by the bright eyes of some Southern beauty.