“The dining saloon is 35 feet long by 15 feet wide; the entrance to the
deck from the saloon is 2½ feet wide and extends across the house, with
a door on each side, and opposite the midship door of the saloon is
the pantry, which is spacious and fitted up in superior style. In the
front of the saloon house are the staterooms of the first and second
officers, and the windows of these rooms are of stained glass and have
the ship’s name in them. The staircase in the after part of the saloon
leads to the main deck, where are the gentlemen’s sleeping apartments,
24 in all, each stateroom having two berths. The deck before the
gentlemen’s sleeping cabin has three large ports for cargo opposite the
hatchways, one on each side, and square ports suitable for staterooms
along the sides. The lower decks are ventilated amidships with trunk
skylights which pass through the house forward as well as the cabin
and saloon aft. The height between each of the decks is 7½ feet. The
ascent from the quarter-deck to the poop consists of two staircases,
built into the front of the poop. She is very heavily sparred and will
spread about 13,000 yards of canvas in a single suit of sails. Her
mastheads and yards are black; the lower masts, from the truss bands
to the fiferails, are bright and varnished, their hoops white and the
tops and down to the truss band are also white. She has iron caps and
is rigged in nearly the same style as the _Champion of the Seas_. Her
bulwarks and houses are painted white and her waterways blue, and in
this style she is also painted below.”
Captain McDonald left the _Marco Polo_ in order to take charge of the
_James Baines_. She sailed from Boston on 12th September, 1854, and the
following is the log of her record run across the Atlantic:—
Sept. 12—At noon parted with steam boat and pilot. Wind, S.W., light.
13—Lat. 42° 10′ N., Long. 66° 33′ W. Distance 225 miles. Light
airs and calms, increasing in the evening to brisk winds
and clear weather.
14—Lat. 40° 18′ N., Long. 62° 45′ W. Distance 238 miles.
Light breezes and clear.
15—Lat. 42° 26′ N., Long. 59° 53′ W. Distance 218 miles. Strong
breezes at S.S.W.
16—Lat. 43° 15′ N., Long. 53° 9′ W. Distance 305 miles.
Strong gales from S.S.W. to N.W.
17—Lat. 44° 54′ N., Long. 48° 48′ W. Distance 280 miles.
Strong breezes from N.W. 4 a.m., passed several vessels
fishing.
18—Lat. 45° 42′ N., Long. 44° 16′ W. Distance 198 miles. Light
breezes and hazy weather. 10 a.m., brisk breezes and
cloudy, wind west.
19—Lat. 47° 22′ N., Long. 36° 42′ W. Distance 342 miles.
Strong breezes and squally.
20—Lat. 48° 39′ N., Long. 33° 12′ W. Distance 200 miles. Light
breezes and hazy. Variable.
21—Lat. 49° 34′ N., Long. 28° 38′ W. Distance 230 miles. Light
breezes and clear. Wind, S.W.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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