Round Cape Horn: Voyage of the Passenger-ship James W. Paige, from Maine to California in the Year 1852A voyage round Cape Horn in a passenger-ship is an event of the past. The necessity for performing this perilous voyage has been obviated by the introduction of railroads and steamships. Emigrants and travelers are no longer obliged to risk their lives and waste their time in passing round the Stormy Cape in order to arrive at a point, which may be reached in a week by a pleasant ride across the continent on the railroad; and Cape Horn is destined to become a terra incognita to all but the readers of ancient voyages. I am not aware that a narrative of a voyage of this description has ever been published; and the hope that a truthful account of the perils, discomforts, and annoyances, as well as the pleasures and enjoyments attending it, may prove entertaining to the reader, has prompted me to send forth this little work to meet the fate or fortune which an enlightened public may award it. The scenes and anecdotes recorded at the end of the voyage, are given in the hope that they may possess some slight value as conveying an idea-a vague and indistinct one, perhaps-of some of the characteristics and habits of a portion of the people of California in early times. |
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Round Cape Horn: Voyage of the Passenger-Ship James W. Paige, from Maine to ... J. Lamson Limited preview - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
albatross amusement approach beautiful behold berth bread breeze Bunker Hill Monument California Cape Frio Cape Horn Cape Pigeons Cape Verde Islands Captain Jackson chaplain CHAPTER Chilian clouds coast continued cooks dance dark deck dinner Dolliff Doña Maria escape excitement feet fellow fellow-passengers filthy friends gale garden gave half harbor hills hour hundred inches islands Johnson journal June ladies main cabin mate Miss Julia morning mountain nearly night Pacific Ocean Paige passed passengers porpoises port portion pretty quarrel RANCHERIE Redwoods Rio Janeiro rock round Cape Horn sail sailors scarcely scene scouse seen ship ship's shore side soft-tack soon specimen squall Staten Land stewards stood storm tack Talcahuana thing Tierra del Fuego tion to-day trees Tremont House Tropic Tropic of Capricorn Valley vessel walk watched weather weeks women yellow fever Yosemite Yosemite Valley
Popular passages
Page 69 - Now would I give a thousand furlongs of sea for an acre of barren ground ; long heath, brown furze, any thing: The wills above be done! but I •would fain die a dry death.
Page 152 - Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide. They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.
Page 90 - Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Page 115 - OH ! had we some bright little isle of our own, In a blue summer ocean, far off and alone, Where a leaf never dies in the still blooming bowers, And the bee banquets on through a whole year of flowers ; Where the sun loves to pause With so fond a delay, That the night only draws A thin veil o'er the day; Where simply to feel that we breathe, that we live, Is worth the best joy that life elsewhere can give.
Page 130 - SOLITUDE. IT is not that my lot is low, That bids this silent tear to flow ; It is not grief that bids me moan ; It is that I am all alone. In woods and glens I love to roam, When the tired hedger hies him home ; Or by the woodland pool to rest, When pale the star looks on its breast. Yet when the silent evening sighs, With...
Page 149 - ... holiest is the good man's pall. List then, ye worldly waterfalls ! Vain men, Whose brains are dizzy with ambition ; bright Your swords — your garments flow'ry like a plain In the spring time — if truth be your delight And virtue your devotion, let your sword Be bared alone at wisdom's sacred word. Roar, roar, thou waterfall ! lift up thy voice Even to the clouded regions of the skies : Thy brightness and thy beauty may rejoice, Thy music charms the ears, thy light the eyes ; Joy-giving torrent...
Page 107 - This body dropt not down. Alone, alone, all all alone Alone on the wide wide Sea; And Christ would take no pity on My soul in agony.
Page 117 - Lamson in the fall of 1852] and one that struck me very forcibly on our first approach, was the great number of dismantled ships that lay thickly scattered around it. These ships had a very old, ruinous, antiquated appearance, and at first sight, gave me an impression, that this new-born city had been inhabited for ages, and was now going to ruin. Most of them have their lower masts standing, and supported by a few ropes and chains . . . [they] have been made subservient to a valuable purpose, having...
Page 15 - ... captain was loudly heard in giving orders to the sailors, who were sent aloft to take in sail, for a squall had struck us. The trunks in our cabin were dashing from side to side, breaking chairs and stools and whatever else came in their way. The earthern ware in the lockers was slipping about and crashing up in a style that threatened its speedy demolition. All was noise and confusion. The winds whistled, howled and screamed, the sails flapped, the waves dashed against the sides of the vessel...
Page 80 - As I passed into the cross streets I saw a great many women seated or standing at their doors.. . . Many of them were very filthy, though some were neatly dressed, and were rather pretty. They had dark complexions, fresh, florid cheeks, bright, black eyes, and black glossy hair hanging down their backs.... They had a smile and a word for all strangers, but their smiles were those of the siren.