The _N. B. Palmer_ was 1490 tons register, and measured: length 214 feet, breadth 39 feet, depth 22 feet. She was owned by A. A. Low & Brother, and was commanded by another brother, Captain Charles Porter Low. He was born at Salem in 1824, and when a child removed with his parents to Brooklyn. At any early age he manifested a decided liking for ships and the society of sailors, and much against the wishes of his parents, he determined to go to sea. In 1842 he shipped as boy before the mast on board of the _Horatio_, with Captain Howland and made the round voyage to China. He made a voyage to Liverpool with Captain Griswold in the _Toronto_ as ordinary seaman, and was an able seaman on board the _Courier_ to Rio Janeiro. He then sailed as third, second, and chief mate of the _Houqua_, with the brothers, Captain Nat, Alexander, and Theodore Palmer, and at the age of twenty-three took command of that ship. As we have seen, he also commanded the _Samuel Russell_ on her first voyage to San Francisco. The _N. B. Palmer_ was perhaps the most famous ship built in the Westervelt yard. In China she was known as “the Yacht,” and with her nettings in the tops, brass guns, gold stripe, and her lavish entertainments on the Fourth of July and Washington’s Birthday, she well deserved the title. Her captain was a princely host, as well as a thorough seaman, and a fine navigator. A full-rigged model of the _N. B. Palmer_ was exhibited at the Crystal Palace, London, in 1851, and attracted much attention as a fine example of the American clipper-ship type. The _Hurricane_ was owned by C. W. & H. Thomas, of New York, and registered 1607 tons. She had the reputation of being the sharpest ship ever built at or near New York, and she carried plenty of canvas, with Cunningham’s rolling topsails, being one of the first American vessels so fitted. Across the lower part of her foretopsail she carried her name painted in large black letters that could be read much further than any signals and looked very smart and shipshape. Her commander, Captain Samuel Very, was born at Salem in 1815, and was a son of John Crowninshield Very, a mariner who had sailed on many a brave Salem ship. Among other experiences, he was one of the survivors of a shipwreck in mid-ocean during the year 1810, when he was picked up by a passing vessel after twenty-three days in an open boat. Admiral Samuel W. Very, U. S. N., is a son of Captain Samuel Very, and was born at Liverpool while the _Hurricane_ lay in the Mersey.