The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869Clark, Arthur H.
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The clipper ship era: an epitome of famous American and British clipper ships, their owners, builders, commanders, and crews, 1843-1869
Clark, Arthur H.
Clipper ships -- Great Britain; Clipper ships -- United States
After an inspection of the ship lunch was served, and Ephraim F. Miller,
Collector of the Port of Salem, proposed the following toast: “Success
to the newest and youngest of the Salem Witches. She perhaps includes in
her composition an equal amount of craft with her unfortunate
predecessors. Had they possessed a proportional share of her beauty, we
are confident that the sternest tribunal before which any of them were
arraigned, would never have had the heart to subject a single one to the
trial to which their successor is designed--the Trial by Water.” This
sentiment was received with applause by the company, who then separated,
some returning to Salem by train, while others remained over night, to
be ready for the next day in case the weather improved. In the evening
the Raynes Mansion was the scene of generous hospitality.
During the night the sky cleared, the sun came up warm and bright with a
pleasant northwesterly breeze, and the early morning found Portsmouth in
a state of bustle and excitement. Wagons laden with hampers, bags, and
boxes of good things, with plenty of ice to keep them cool, were
unloaded alongside the ship, and presently the _R. B. Forbes_ appeared
steaming up the river with a big bone in her teeth, the embodiment of
energy and strength. The morning train came in, bringing a large number
of men and women, from Boston, Salem, and Newburyport, who, with the
Portsmouth guests, made a distinguished company of more than two
hundred persons.
At about eleven o’clock, everything being ready, the _Witch of the
Wave_, with colors flying and the Boston Cadet Band on board playing
“The Star-Spangled Banner,” was towed out into the stream amid the
shouts and cheers of a multitude of people, who thronged the wharves and
shipyards along the river. After passing through the Narrows and
rounding New Castle Point, the _R. B. Forbes_, which had been towing
alongside, took her hawser out ahead and shaped a course for Cape Ann,
which brought the wind well over the starboard quarter. The breeze had
freshened, though the sea was still quite smooth, and this, with the
clear, blue sky and bright sunshine, made a day altogether too fine to
be spent on shore.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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