The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 4, October 1837Various
History
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 4, October 1837
Various
Periodicals
"Upon deck, the arrangements were as neat as they were aloft.
Eight twenty-four pound carronades, and a long eighteen,
thrust their frowning muzzles out from either side; and rows
of bright battle-axes, cutlasses, and pikes, were ranged along
the bulwarks, in glittering and beautiful array. Each rope was
carefully coiled upon its respective pin; and no unnecessary
lumber obstructed the gangways or quarter deck. Between the
fore and main masts, a large boat was nicely stowed, while its
black cover served the double purpose of protecting it from the
weather, and imparting a neater air to the arrangements of the
deck. Abaft the mizzen-mast, or on that part distinguished as
the quarter-deck, every thing was rich and expensive. Railings
of polished brass surrounded the hatchways, and ladders of
grated work communicated with the depth of the ship. The
wheel and binnacles were of the rarest wood, and constructed
in the most tasteful and elegant manner. The hammock boards
were adorned with gilded ornaments, and the bolt-heads in the
deck were screened by inserted mahogany, cut diamond-wise. In
a word, that ship seemed to have been built by Profusion as
an offering to Beauty. * * * Groups of seamen sat between the
guns in discourse, or reclined with characteristic listlessness
upon the deck, while a few, who were discharging the duties of
look-outs, stood at their various stations with their faces
turned toward the ocean."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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