Voyages and commercial enterprises of the sons of New England

Preface

1^22 character of the citizens of New England for enterprise and industry, is very generally acknowledged. Being for the most part obliged to seek their own fortunes, they are thus early accustomed to the endurance of privations, and to those industrious and frugal habits, which lead to competence and wealth. In the pursuit of that independence of which all are more or less desirous, there have been instances of daring enterprise, of persevering determination, of disregard of fatigue and suffering, which are very remarkable ; but which pass unobserved from their^ frequency, no less than from the unobtrusive habits of the actors.

A simple account of such enterprises, drawn from journals and letters written at the time the events therein related occurred, is here given to the public.

More than forty-five years have elapsed since the first of the voyages here narrated was undertaken ; and more than twenty since the completion of the last. It is apparent that they possess but in a small degree, the power to interest, that

PREFACE.

■^'ould have been excited, had they been published at the period of their performance ; yet this delay in their publication may, on some considerations, enhance their value. It may be interesting to the young merchant to trace some of the great revolutions in the commerce of the world, which have occurred within the above-named periods ; and those of advanced age may be induced to recur to by-gone days, with pleasing, even if accompanied with melancholy associa- {.ums.

For several years preceding the date of the first of my voyages, the merchants of the United States, and particularly those of Salem, carried on an active and lucrative commerce with the Isles of France and Bourbon, which was continued up to the period of the conquest of those islands by the British, since which it has nearly ceased. That important product of our country, cotton, which is now its greatest and most valuable article of export, employing a greater amount of tonnage than any other, was then unknown as an article of export from the Umted States ; and the little required for the consumption of our domestic fabrics was imported from Demerara, Surinam, and the West India Islands. The trade to the Northwest Coast of America, which for about twenty-five years was actively and almost exclusively pursued from Boston, on an extensive scale, and to great advantage, has for some years been abandoned, from the scarcity and high price of furs, caused by the competition of the Russians, who have gradually advanced their posts far to the south of those places where my cargo was collected; and where they were not then seen. The sealing voyages, which were prosecuted most actively from

PEEFACE.

New Haven, Norwich, and Stonington, principally to the Island of Masafuera, and by which sudden and large fortunes were made, have, for many years past, been productive of little comparative advantage to the few yet engaged in them ; and this in consequence of the animal's being almost annihilated.

Our cargoes from China, which were formerly paid for in these furs, and in Spanish dollars, are now procured for bills on England, for opium, and for European and American fabrics. The cotton and silk manufactures of Indostan constituted formerly, almost exclusively, the cargoes of our ships from Calcutta, which were paid for in Spanish dollars, and which generally yielded large profits. At this time our cotton fabrics are so much better and cheaper, as entirely .to have superseded the importation of those ; and most of the articles which now compose a cargo from Calcutta, excepting saltpetre and bandanas, were then scarcely known there, as articles of export to this country. Bills on England in payment for these cargoes, as well as for those laden at other ports of India, have been substituted for Spanish dollars, which formerly were indispensable to the prosecution of this trade.

When I first visited the ports of Brazil, of Chili, of Peru, of Mexico, and of California, they had been for ages, and were then, so exclusively used for their own respective flags, that the admittance of one of a foreign nation was granted only on the most palpable evidence of a necessity, which it would be inhuman not to relieve. When admitted, no individual belonging to the vessel was permitted to land, or to walk the streets of the city, without the disagreeable incum-

10 PREFACE.

brance of a soldier following him ; hence the difficulty of obtaining information, and consequently the meagre accounts given of the manners and customs of those nations.

The revolutions in those countries which have been effected with so much individual distress, and so great loss of life, though far from having produced the prosperity and happiness anticipated by their most enlightened patriots, have nevertheless caused their ports to be thrown open for the admission of the flags of all nations. This has afforded opportunities to strangers for visitmg them, which have been abundantly improved ; and the numerous and elaborate accounts of them which have been given to the world, within a few years, by Hterary men, who possessed the requisite leisure and opportunity for the purpose, seemed to obviate the necessity of my attempting to enlarge on those subjects. The same reason forbade the attempt at more than cursory and passing descriptions of countries, cities, customs, and manners in other parts of the globe, visited by me for objects exclusively of a commercial character.

Equally, if not even more remarkable than the changes above mentioned, are those observable at the Sandwich Islands, since my first visit there in the year 1799. Then the inhabitants were but little elevated from the barbarous state in which they were found by Captain Cook ; now they are comparatively a civilized people, sensible of the value of instruction, and eager to obtain it ; cultivating their fields, and, by an extended and increasing foreign trade, affording a most remarkable instance of the ameliorating and humanizing effects of commerce.

In these days of philanthropy, when there are so many

PREFACE. 11

zealous advocates and active promoters of the great and truly benevolent cause of temperance, it is proper and becoming in every well wisher to the advancement of this cause, to aid it in every way in his power. With such impressions, and with the favorable opportunity now presented, I should consider it reprehensible to withhold from the public a statement of facts relating to myself personally, and which no other consideration than the hope of doing good, would induce me to make, although they may be viewed by many as not the least extraordinary of the facts which have been narrated.

I am not, nor have I ever been a member of a temperance society ; but I was a practical temperance man long before such societies were dreamed of. At the period when I began my nautical career, it was a universally received maxim, that drinking grog and chewing tobacco were two essential and indispensable requisites for making a good seaman. So omnipotent is custom, and so powerful is satire, that although the absurdity of such a maxim must be apparent to every one, I have, nevertheless, seen many young men repeatedly made sick before overcoming the disgust, and some of them afterwards became miserable drunkards. As alcohol and tobacco were in no degree less offensive to me than I had evidence of their being to my associates, it appeared to me that to submit to the ridicule rather than to the sickness, was selecting the least of the evils, and I acted accordingly.

Those who may honor me with a perusal of my narrative will perceive, that I have navigated to all parts of the world, from the sixtieth degree of south latitude, to the six-

12 PREFACI'.

tieth degree north ; and sometimes in vessels whose diminutive size and small number of men caused exposure to wet and cold, greatly surpassing what is usually experienced in ships of ordinary capacity; that I have been exposed to the influence of the most unhealthy places ; at Batavia, where I have seen whole crews prostrate with the fever, and death making havoc among them ; at San Bias, where the natives can stay only a portion of the year ; at the Havana, within whose walls I have resided five years consecutively ; that I have suffered captivity, robbery, imprisonment, ruin, and the racking anxiety consequent thereon. And yet, through the whole, anK to the present sixty-eighth year of my age, I liave never taken a drop of spirituous liquor of any kind ; never a glass of wine, of porter, ale, or beer, or any beverage stronger than tea and coffee ; and, moreover, I have never used tobacco in any way whatever ; and this, not only without injury, but, on the contrary, to the preservation of my health. Headache is known to me by name only ; and excepting those fevers which were produced by great anxiety and excitement, my life has been free from sickness.

The following narrative will enable the reader to form a comparison between a seaman's profession and his own ; and, possibly, after perusing it, he will be less disturbed by the annoyances Avhich peculiarly beset him. He will perceive that the master of a merchant ship, in whom are united the duties of na\'igator and factor, is subjected to great care and responsibility, even on ordinary and well-defined voyages. These are greatly augmented when the enterprise is enveloped in darkness from the unknown political state of the

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countries -whither he is destined; from the contingencies which may be presented to him ; and from the necessity of great circumspection, decision, and promptitude, in the choice of them. If he is timid and afraid to enter a port where there is uncertainty of a friendly reception, it may cause the ruin of his voyage. If, on the contrary, he is bold, and enters such port, confiding in the protection of existing treaties, and the laws of nations, he may also become the victim of arbitrary power, confided to unworthy and ignorant individuals. If success attend his enterprise, when returning home with ample compensation for his labor, he runs the risk of having it all snatched from him by some hungry sateUite of that great high-sea robber, termed " His," or *' Her Majesty." Thus, in addition to the ordinary perils of hurricanes and storms, of rocks and shoals, he has to incur the greater ones of the cupidity and villany of man.

Of the ordinary labor and fatigue attendant on the profession, the same individual would form opposite conclusions in different circumstances. The man who makes a winter's passage from Europe to America, and encounters the usual storms and severity of weather peculiar to that passage, will probably prono-unce the seaman's life to be the hardest, the most dangerous, the most irksome, the most wearing to body and mind, of any one of the pursuits of man. On the contrary, he who sails from the United States to Calcutta, to China, or to South America, avoiding our winter's coast, may perform the voyage without experiencing a gale of greater severity than would require the sails to be reefed, a pleasing excitement when the necessity is of rare occurrence ; and he would probably decide that no profession is 2

14 PREFACE.

SO easy, so pleasant, and so free from care, as the seaman's. These are the two extremes, l^etween which, as may be supposed, there are gradations, which will tend to incline the scale one way or the other, according to circumstances. The experience of more than twenty years, passed in navigating to all parts of the world, has led me to the conclusion, that though the hardships and privations of a seaman's life be greater than those of any other, there is a compensation in the very excitement of its dangers, in the opportunity it affords of visiting diflferent countries, and viewing mankind in the various gradations between the most barbarous and the most refined ; and in the ever-changing scenes which this occupation presents. And I can say, with truth, that I not only feel no regret for having chosen this profession rather than any other, but that if my life were to be passed over again, I should pursue the same course.

Contents

Fbefacb. .' 7

CHAPTEE I.

The Counting House. A Salem merchant. His ships and masters. Distant voyages. Their excitement My first voyage. Disgust with it. Become master of the Enterprise. Voyage to Bom-bon 25

Chapter I

The Counting-House — A Salem Merchant — His Ships and Masters — Distant Voy ages — Their Excitement — My First Voyage — Disgust with it — Become Master of the Enterprise — Voyage to Bourbon.

tl^ the ordinaiy course of a commercial education, in New England, boys are transferred from school to the merchant's desk at the age of fourteen or fifteen. When I had reached my fourteenth year, it was my good fortune to be received into the counting-house of Elias Hasket Derby, Esq. of Salem ; a merchant, who may justly be termed the father of the American commerce to India ; one whose enterprise and commercial sagacity were unequalled in his day, and, perhaps, have not been surpassed by any of his successors. To him our country is indebted for opening the valuable trade to Calcutta ; before whose fortress his was the first vessel to display the American flag ; and, following up the business, he had reaped golden harvests before other merchants came in for a share. The first American ships, seen at the Cape of Good Hope and at the Isle of France, belonged to him. His were the first American ships which carried cargoes of cotton from Bombay to China ; and among the first ships which made a direct voyage to China and back, was one owned by him. He continued to prosecute a successful business, on an extensive scale, in those countries, until the day of his death. In the transaction of his affairs abroad, he was liberal, greatly beyond the practice in modern times, always desirous that every one, even the foremost hand, should share the 3 good fortune to which he pointed the way ; and the long list of masters of ships, who have acquired ample fortunes in his employment, is a proof both of his discernment in selecting and of his generosity in paying them.

Without possessing a scientific knowledge of the construction and the sparring of ships, Mr. Derby seemed to have an intuitive faculty in judging of models and proportions ; and his experiments, in several instances, for the attainment of swiftness of sailing, were crowned with a success unsurpassed in our own or any other country. He built several ships for the India trade, immediately in the vicinity of the counting-house ; which afforded me an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the building, sparring, and rigging of ships. The conversations, to which I listened, relating to the countries then newly visited by Americans, the excitement on the return of an adventure from them, and the great profits which were made, always manifest from the result of my own little adventures, tended to stimulate the desire in me of visiting those countries, and of sharing more largely in the advantages they presented. Consequently, after having passed four years in this course of instruction, I became impatient to begin that nautical career on which I had determined, as presenting the most sure and direct means of arriving at independence.

The force of prejudice, in defiance of common sense and the plainest dictates of reason, is perhaps in no case more frequently exhibited than in the pertinacity with which old seamen, whose nautical course began in the forecastle, adhere to the maxim, that, to make a good seaman, " it is requisite one should enter on board by the hawse-holes (or forecastle), and not by the cabin windows." When 1 began, I was aware of the existence of this maxim, but doubted its truth ; as I could not comprehend how the qualifications for command were to be acquired by living in the forecastle ; or how nautical skill was to be advanced by practising the duties of tarring down the rigging, and slushing the masts. I therefore had no ambition of attaining to a practical knowledge of these accomplishments. I came in at the cabin windows ; but with an understanding that I was to stand watch regularly, to take my regular turn at the helm, to reef and hand the sails, &c. ; and I am sure it will be admitted that there was no time when I flinched from the performance of those duties.

CAPE HAYTIEN. 27

Having, early in life, imbibed a predilection for nautical affairs, I had ample opportunity of indulging it, while in the counting-house of a merchant who had several ships built and equipped in the immediate vicinity of my place of employment. I had watched the progress and manner of fitting the rigging of many vessels, and thereby obtained a better knowledge of it than is often gained by many years' service in the forecastle. On the sailing or the arrival of our vessels, I was almost always on board, and thence acquired a knowledge of the art of manoeuvring a ship, such as is not always attained by long practice at sea. With such practical experience, I embarked at Salem, on my first voyage, in June, 1792, on board of the brig Rose, owned by Mr. Derby, and commanded by my early friend and school-mate, Nathaniel Silsbee,* on a voyage to Cape Frangois, now Cape Haytien. I entered in the capacity of captain's clerk ; to live with him in the cabin ; to assist him in his business in port ; and to do duty as a foremast hand at sea. Nor have I, after my long course of experience, been able to discover any way so desirable, so eligible as this, for giving a young man a practical knowledge of seamanship, free from the vulgarity of the forecastle ; and of so familiarizing him with the manner of doing business in various countries, as to make him an accomplished super-cargo.

Our passage being made in the" height of summer, — we experienced a long course of southerly winds, which so retarded our progress, that nearly forty days were consumed before reaching our destined port ; and there was scarcely a day of this long passage that I was not more or less sea-sick. I remember only one incident to vary the monotonous scene on this tedious passage ; and this was of a description that will never be obliterated from my memory. We were one day lying perfectly becalme^near the tropic, — the water so smooth as to reflect every object, like a mirror, — the heat intense ; the vessel lying like a log, with scarcely any perceptible motion. At this time, though not unconscious of danger, I could not resist the inclination of taking a plunge into the ocean. I had not, however, been swimming more than five minutes, before the men on board perceived a shark coming quickly towards the vessel. The necessity for caution,

* Since President of the Senate of Massachusetts, and for several years a Senator of the United States.

SO as not to alarm me, was obvious ; and Captain Silsbee, being fortunately on deck, with great presence of mind dropped his hat overboard, and called to me to come quickly and pick it up before it filled with water. I did so, and had scarcely got out of the water with the hat in my hand, when I saw, within a few feet of me, a shark of enormous size ; indeed in all my extensive navigation since, I have seen none that would bear any comparison with it. As he came fearlessly close alongside the vessel, one of the seamen got ready a liarpoon to throw into him, but was forbidden so to do, from the certainty of losing it.

Arriving safely at Cape Francois, the bay presented a scene of commercial activity, such as I had never seen equalled. The throng of boats by which we v/ere instantly surrounded, to sell us the variety of strange fruits with which they were laden; — the number of large ships in port, some loading, others unloading ; — the daily arrival and departure of vessels of all nations ; — the French slavers continually coming in from Africa, with a crowd of blacks on their decks ; — the fine ships of war in beautiful order ; and the multitude of boats passing to and fro, across the bay; — formed, altogether, a scene surpassingly animated and brilliant, to one whose eye had never before met any thing of the kind, exceeding the ordinary exhibition of vessels in Salem harbor. The activity and bustle of business on shore seemed to be even greater than that in the bay ; and the magnificent stores, filled with every description of merchandise, gave indications of the riches and business of the place ; while the long range of stalls on the border of the bay, for the retail of all kinds of French knickknacks, gave employment and a living to a great number of the colored population. The insurrection of the negroes, however, had, at this time, made some progress ; and only a short period elapsed before these riches " took to themselves wings," and the whole white population of the colony was involved in one promiscuous state of ruin.

Having disposed of our outward cargo, and reladen with another, the produce of the island, we were wafted to sea by the land breeze, very early on a morning in the latter part of August, and, after a -fair passage, arrived in safety at Salem, in September, 1792 ; — thus, to my great joy, accomplishing my first voyage ; and experiencing a

PORT PEAYA. 29 ■

relief from the nausea, occasioned by the wearisome rolling and bad odor of the vessel, which is probably not unusual, and will be duly appreciated by those who make their first passages at sea.

The distress from sea-sickness, and its consequent prostration of, spirits, were such as to make it desirable to seek some other road to fortune. But I possessed no capital with which to bring my commercial acquirements into action ; and a merchant without capita) was as incapable of making head-way, as a mechanic without tools. There remained to me, therefore, only the choice of persevering in the profession I had chosen, with a prospect of independence ; or of earning a maintenance as a clerk or book-keeper, with no chance of ever being any thing else. Had the disagreeable circumstances attending a sea-life been even greater than they were, I should have had no hesitancy in the choice, and I therefore engaged to go out again with Captain Silsbee, in the same capacity as before, in a new ship of Mr. Derby's, then ready to be launched. This ship, of about one hundred and ninety tons' burden, was called the Benjamin, and was destined for the Isle of France and the East Indies.

In the prosecution of this voyage, we left Salem harbor on the 11th of December, 1792.

During the first week after our departure, we had a gale of wind from north-northwest, and northwest, which compelled us to take in the topsails, and to keep the ship scudding before the wind and sea, under the foresail. As we passed over George's Bank the sea was tremendous ; sweeping from our decks several hogsheads of water and two casks of merchandise, and threatening us with the loss of boats and caboose. The men suffered exceedingly, during the first three days, from incessant exposure to cold and wet. Such entire absence, for the time, of any approximation to comfort, I have never witnessed since. The cook, a black man, either from heedlessness, or from ignorance how to take care of himself, had his feet so badly frozen that it was found necessary to amputate his toes, — which was done with a penknife by the second mate ; who then dressed the wounds to the best of his ability.

About six weeks after this occurrence (26th January) we arrived at Port Praya, St. Jago, to which place we had proceeded for the purpose either of leaving the cook there, or of procuring such surgical 3* and medical aid as was needed for his recovery. Fortunately, we found lying there H. B. iMajesty's ship Scorpion. The surgeon of this ship, being immediately sent for, came with alacrity, and examined and dressed the poor fellow's feet. He left salves and medicines, with directions how to use them ; and, with characteristic generosity, refused any compensation. To the fortunate circumstance of receiving this very opportune aid, the poor cook Avas indebted for a speedy cure, if not for his life. Having filled our water-casks, and procured the requisite supply of vegetables, we sailed the next day for the Cape of Good Hope. The long calms we experienced on the equator, and the foulness incident to a wooden-bottomed ship, retarded our progress, so that we did not arrive at Table Bay till the 10th of April.

The exhaustion of our stores, consequent on a four months' passage, would have rendered an arrival at any civilized place a pleasing event. But, at the Cape of Good Hope, where fresh provisions and vegetables of good quality, and delicious grapes and other fruits, were to be obtained in abundance, the pleasure of our arrival was increased to a degree to leave a lasting impression on my mind,

A pai't of our cargo was disposed of at the Cape ; and its place filled up with such produce of the country as it was supposed would yield the most profit at the Isle of France. Our business being accomplished, we sailed from the Cape on the 23d of April. On the succeeding night we experienced a gale, which obliged us to heave to, under foresail and mizzen staysail. At this time the ship was laboring and straining so much, that it was deemed expedient to throw over the deck load, which afforded perceptible relief. Proceeding on our course, no event w^orthy of notice occurred till the 26th of May, when we fell in with the French frigate. La Prudente, bound to the Isle of France, and conveying the news of a declaration of war by England against France. On the 6th of June we arrived, and came to anchor at Port Louis, Isle of Franbe.

The news of the war with England greatly enhanced the value of our cargo ; and the prospect was flattering for making a great voyage, if left unmolested to pursue our business. But the disorders incident to the Revolution had reached this island ; and the discord existing between the admiral in command of the naval force, and the

ISLE OF BOURBON. 31

government on shore, was an epitome of that then existing in France, between the parties who were struggling for the ascendency. Vice-admiral St. Felix refused obedience to the dictation of the Jacobin government ; and for such refusal, — -Jike the unfortunate Macnamara, — he would have been cut- to pieces, had he ventured to come on shore. Aware of this, he took care never to put himself into their power ; but his long residence on ship-board, and consequent deprivation of the salutary effects of occasionally visiting the shore, had the usual result in such cases, producing scurvy. But however much the authorities were at variance with each other, they agreed in one thing, the detention of all the American vessels in port, till the arrival of news from France, such as should dispel the existing doubt, t"hen very prevalent, of America's taking sides with England against France.

In the mean time, all the ships being sheathed with wood, the worms were making such havoc, that a long detention would be scarcely less disastrous than confiscation. There is probably no place in the world surpassing Port North- West, now so called, for the destructive power of the worm. On going into the hold of the ship, when empty, I was astonished at the noise they made ; not unlike a multitude of borers with augers ; . but fortunately, when they have pierced the sheathing, their further progress is arrested by the hair which is placed between the sheathing and the bottom of the ship.

On the 6th of July, several American ships being ready for sea, their masters went together on board of the Admiral's ship, and had an interview with him on the subject of obtaining leave to sail ; but this he refused them, on the plea of its endangering the safety of some merchant ships then on the point of sailing for France. A second application was made on the 31st of July, with a like result; nor was it till the arrival of the American ship Pigou, with French passengers, direct from Bordeaux, on the 20th of November, that the authorities were satisfied that America would maintain a neutral position, and, as a consequence, were willing to raise the embargo.

Being thus relieved from a painful state of anxiety, and from an embargo of nearly six months' duration, we sailed from the Isle of France on the 25th of November, being only partly laden ; and proceeded to the Isle of Bourbon to take on board a quantity of coffee already prepared for us. Having anchored at St. Dennis, and takea on board a part, we proceeded to St. Benoit, and took in the remainder. The anchorage at this latter place is so bad that it is rare that any other than small coasting vessels attempt to load there. We came to in fifty fathoms, the cable being nearly up and down. The Benjamin was the first foreign vessel that had ever anchored in that poi't ; and having fine weather and a very smooth sea, and receiving every facility from the agent on shore, we succeeded in the accomplishment of our object, after remaining four days at this dangerous anchorage. We then sailed, on the 7th of December, for the Cape of Good Hope, touching again at St. Dennis for the settlement of accounts, which caused a detention of a few hours only.