The romance of yachting: voyage the first

CHAPTER I.— The battery

II. — The yacht "restless," 1616, III. — Yachting, the true dolce far niente, IV. — Where shall igo! The question canvassed, AND THE OLD WORLD PASSED IN REVIEW, V. — A GLANCE TOWARDS SPAIN, . . .

VI. — The yacht "j. doolittle smith,"

VII. — Concerning the dunnage or a yachter,

VIII. — The captain's lady and the wind adverse,

IX. — The journal and the log. — the first day . the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day, the eighth day, the ninth day, the tenth day, the eleventh day, the twelfth day, the thirteenth day, the fourteenth day, the fifteenth day, the sixteenth day, the seventeenth day, the eighteenth day, the nineteenth day, the twentieth day, the twenty-first day, the twenty-second day,

Pago

Contents

CHAPTER IX. — THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY,

THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY, THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY, THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY, THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY, THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY, THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY, THE THIRTIETH DAY, THE THIRTY-FIRST DAY, THE THIRTY-SECOND DAY, THE THIRTY-THIRD DAY, THE THIRTY-FOURTH DAY, THE THIRTY-FIFTH DAY, THE THIRTY-SIXTH DAY, THE THIRTY-SEVENTH DAY, ABSTRACT OF THE VOYAGE,

CHAPTER X. — Cadiz outside the walls,

Preface To "voyage The First."

This Volume of the Romance of Yachting will probably fall into the hands of most persons of intelligence going to sea, whether for pleasure or professionally ; and it is likely, also, that it will form an addition to nautical libraries generally. It is proper, therefore, at the outset, for the author to speak of the design of the work.

It has been framed mainly with a view to call the attention of Yachters, to the several phenomena ordinarily occurring at sea and on ship-board ; but it is by no means so closely confined to nautical matters and technicalities, that landsmen may not read it with profit, and, it is hoped, with interest. The old and experienced seaman may, haply, also peruse it with amusement and indulgence ; and the younger branch of the same profession with instruction.

It is the first of a series ; yet each volume will be complete in itself, and treat of separate subjects and events. They will therefore be independent of each other. The volume which will succeed this in the series, will be less miscellaneous, and will embrace much curious historical matter relating to Spain, that could not be included in " Voyage the First" without swelling the volume beyond the dimensions originally intended, and interfering with the design of this work.

The subject of Yachting is getting to be one of considerable

6 PREFACE.

interest in our Atlantic cities ; and he who contributes to the encouragement of its true spirit, deserves, himself, to be encouraged. Yachting does not consist, entirely, in knowing how to handle a vessel ; but its scope is far beyond the mere technicality of seamanship, and reaches the information and amusement one may find on the voyage, as well as when he arrives in distant countries.

In England, with the Queen for patroness and exemplar, Yachting has come to be quite a systematic affair ; and it is not unusual to find splendid and well-appointed English Yachts, sometimes of several hundred tons in burthen, cruising in all the temperate seas of Europe. These are expensive appendages of the wealthy. Those who can afford them, however, and have leisure for the enjoyment of travel by sea, possess a command over sightseeing and rational indulgence which is truly enviable.

In America, however, the same things, I mean Yachts and Yachting, are within our easy reach, and may be carried to the same extent abroad, with far less pecuniary outlay. The same objects also, very nearly, and with less anxiety perhaps, may be attained by means of our countless Packet-Ships and Ocean- Steamers, which are in fact the most superb and spacious Yachts in the world.

To sail systematically, to travel systematically, with an intellectual profit beyond that of the mere voyage itself, ought to be the aim of all Yachters. And with the view of contributing something to the easy attainment of both those objects, this volume is offered to the perusal of those who venture upon the sea. Whether they sail as passengers, or partake of the practical duties of their craft, the hints and matters contained herein may possibly meet with their approval.

The further design of the volume will become more apparent by inspection of its pages, which the author places before the pub-

Preface

lie with a much greater degree of confidence than he otherwise would, arising from the fact that he has already, in another work of a similar nature, received the kind indulgence and approbation of discriminating readers. Though a semi-romance of the sea, it has long been regarded as being closely historical : and he is not without hope that this work may eventually receive a like consideration from his countrymen.

Among the incidental subjects treated of in this volume, there are several favorite and prevailing historical assumptions, which the author has made the objects of his dissent. He however holds himself responsible, for all his opinions, at the bar of enlightened and manly criticism. The subjects thus considered, and to which he invites the reader to apply historical tests, are these : — The precedence claimed for the Puritans in the introduction here of " freedom, religion, and civilization :" — The misrepresentations of Spanish female character and the character of the Spanish people generally : — The original cause of the invasion of Spain by the Moors, in modern times supposed to be attributable to the violence done to the daughter of Julian : — And the position generally assigned to Shakspeare as a superior literary genius. The arrogance and wantonness of British writers, in regard to this country, are by no means forgotten among the other incidental matters.

But whatever may be the fate or influence of these opinions, founded, as the author believes, on facts and history, he sincerely hopes that, upon a perusal of his work, his countrymen will regard the people of Spain, and Spain itself, with more favor than is their present wont; and that they will more frequently turn their attention, in travelling, to a country which they have neglected to their own great loss and disadvantage.

CHAPTER I .

THE BATTERY.

Who has not sauntered upon the Battery, that pleasantest breathing-place of the noblest city in America 1 Who has not there, at some time or other, reviewed the affairs of his life in sober earnest, and, in its inviting shades, taken in wisdom with the atmosphere, and made some new resolution for his future government ? I had spent many years in almost unremitted toil, when the Spring of the year 1846 opened upon me, and found me, one day, relieved from labor, and enjoying the pure air that always blows in upon that incomparable Alameda, which overlooks the finest expanse of water in America, perhaps the finest in the world.

This green spot, this Oasis skirting the confines of huge piles of regulated brick and mortar, (which twice, however, by the desolation of fire, within a period of ten years, nearly emulated the desert ruins of Babylon,) is so familiar to Americans, that I need scarcely to say it stands where the mag-

1*

THE ROMANCE OF YACHTING.

nificent Hudson mingles its waters with those of the bold Hell- Gate Strait, miscalled a river, which comes in to join it from the imposing Sound of Long Island — and then both are lost in a bay of vast extent and grandeur, spreading out, like a mirror, before the great city of New- York.

City of incongruous name, but of exceeding loveliness ! The voice of a Knickerbocker craves to be heeded, while speaking of the present fame and future destiny of this cherished and glorious metropolis, and also while he shows that there is an unseemly blot upon her escutcheon, a bar-sinister, which he is zealously endeavoring to rub out. New- York is no longer New. She is getting Old fast. She is the oldest city in America planted by our race ; and the anomaly of " Old New- York" will, one of these days, become a grating sound upon American ears. Besides, it is far from pleasant to remember that she is called after no honorable name ; but after an unprincipled and degraded prince of England, who was so unutterably mean that he was literally hissed out of his own country. When, in the course of human events, the Duke of York became James II. of England, Hume, the slavish apologist of royalty, and the partisan historian of his presumptuous father, Charles I. of infamous memory, is constrained to admit that he was whistled out of his realm to the tune of " a merry ballad, called Lilliballero." There could have been no "lower deep" to his unworthiness, when Englishmen could bring themselves to contemn Royalty in his person, and turn up their noses at the " Lord's anointed "—for thus he proclaimed himself, and spat upon the people. Nero and Domitian received the treatment of gentlemen from the indignant Romans, when compared with the contemptuous

VOYAGE THE FIRST.

indignation heaped by Englishmen upon the head of the besotted and arrogant James II., for similar tyrannical offences. He must, therefore, have been despicable indeed. We alone, freemen and no lovers of kings, compel ourselves to uphold his hated impress, and to transmit it from age to age. Are we not possessed by some indescribable awe of the past, or imbued with an unpardonable reverence for antiquity ? Certes, we have already retained the name of York too long ; and all intelligent Americans will give you reasons in detail, plenty as blackberries, for its discontinuance. I never think of it but as a badge of colonial slavery, which we ought long ago to have erased forever.

Our Indian title, " Manhattan," is infinitely more appropriate and euphonious than the uncouth and unmeaning sound which was suffered to supersede it. The " Children of the Whirlpool"* shall yet see their ancient name of Manhattan restored ! The restoration to the loved original, when we shall no longer feel that we are " new," may easily be effected by the action of our citizens. Who will frame and present the memorial to our Legislature ? It should be done before we are told " it is too late ;" and when done, we will soon forget, and so will the world, that our city was ever called New-York.

The name of our great State, which has deservedly received the honorable distinction of the Empire State by universal consent, should also be changed for something

* Manhattan-uk— the People of the Whirlpool ; in reference to our dwelling near the remarkable and well-known maelstrom in the eastern channel leading to the city. — Schoolcraft, permanent and significant of her greatness. It should be accomplished by all the forms and solemnities of legislation. I am content that the title of u Empire State" should stand, if confirmed by legislative action ; but, until that is accomplished, there are others that press upon us for consideration — such as u Ontario," and " Niagara," — aboriginal names of power, and, like " Manhattan," belonging to us from the beginning. But at any rate, whatever may be the substitute, the name of " New- York " should be brazed out and discarded, to all intents and purposes, preparatory to the adoption of one that our people would delight to honor.

When our territory had been piratically wrested from our ancestors by the English, in a time of profound peace, after the unjust and truly Anglo-Saxon manner in which that nation obtains all its territories, the city and what is now the state were, alike, called by the Duke of York after himself; and it required only his mighty fiat to change the title in a single day. The change may again be made quite as easily by ourselves. Both city and territory were named with no reference whatever to the ancient shire and town of England ; so that we have no apology for not discarding the surreptitious designation — no affectionate traditionary reminiscences to urge for its retention.

O, shade of the brave Baron Steuben, and ghost of that nameless surveyor-general, your worthy compatriot, while you were naming our young towns and our incipient counties after the Senecas and Manliuses, and Ciceros and Pompeys, (you happily forgot Cesar and Nero,) why did you not think of Manhattan and Ontario as substitutes for the name of the meanest of England's nobility, which you found entailed

VOYAGE THE FIRST.

upon us, and could have removed, while you were about it, with a single dash of the pen !

If the reader accuses me of being in an ill-humor while I write, he does me great injustice, though the last few lines may seem to wear an angry appearance. I am " historically serious," but not out of temper; and yet, somewhat overworked, I confess that on the day referred to, I felt very much in the mood of a certain writer for the English stage, who, worn and jaded with delving in his vocation, coveted " a week of luxurious sloth in the country," and " an hour of virtuous liberty n to make the statutes withal, whereby he might declare it a high misdemeanor to mention " pen, ink, or paper" in his presence. George Colman was evidently a-weary of the pen when he said that. I, too, was fatigued with the too constant use of the same wondrous instrument, and disgusted with turning over the leaves of musty cases illustrating the humbug of the law, or rather the humbug of learned decisions, reversing one another with an alternation quite refreshing to suitors, and indicative of that glorious uncertainty which has long since passed into a proverb.

In fact, I was just in that expectant state of readiness and condition to be amused with any thing that might turn up, provided it did not savor of the perfume of the law ; and, like Sterne, I was determined to be pleased, I knew not why, nor cared wherefore. So I sat down on one of the rude seats furnished by our city fathers, cut and hacked all over by the jack-knives of thousands of idle people who had enjoyed that privilege before me ; and there I inhaled at my leisure the balmy and invigorating air of the early springtime.

TEE ROMANCE OF YACHTING.

Bright, rosy children were gambolling over the grass. Little girls, with their lovely locks streaming down their backs in ringlets, were running along the paths, after their hoops, and chasing them " like a streak." The fine old trees, under which I was reposing, had put forth their buds, and they had already swelled and unfolded ; and the young and trembling leaves overhead were just then taking their transition to maturity, but had not yet sufficiently expanded to keep the sun from coming in between and marking them down, with their slightly serrated edges clearly denned on the clean-swept pathway before me.

The birds, too, smelling no gunpowder, and seeing no Cockney " sportsman " about, with his big jack-boots, double-barrelled gun, and a brace of dogs at his heels, kept high-holiday aloft in the branches; and one glorious little fellow near me, a bob-link for certain, beat the rest all hollow, and shouted his music and piped his trills so joyously, that I almost feared he would crack his tiny throat with the ambitious effort. I wonder if birds ever get the fashionable bronchitis ?

The bay, sparkling in sunshine, was slightly ruffled by a bashful and gently-kissing southern breeze. It bore upon its bosom the myriad sails of our commerce, some shaping for the sea and silently bidding farewell for a brief season ; others, more boldly squared, and swelling out joyfully, were turned homeward, bearing to our shores the riches of a tributary world ; while our swift steamboats, rivals for the empire of the sea, and almost monopolizing our inland waters, were parting here and there, in a prodigious hurry to get through with their daily and hourly undertakings.

VOYAGE THE FIRST.

There go, and there come the mighty ships ! What tales of distant lands do they tell ! We follow them, in the spirit, and the imagination divides itself into a thousand perfect souls of immateriality, all revelling at once in the wonders and beauties of climes afar off. The soul of intelligence takes in the whole, and is not a creature confined to the narrow limits of a single idea. It is immortal, partaking of the Creator, and is therefore, as it were, omniscient and present every where, and capable of the highest species of enjoyment. It looks over the globe by its attributes.

And thus this enchanting scene, animated to the eye and somewhat to the ear, was quiet, and subdued and consoling, though within a few squares of the busiest part of the busiest city in the universe. Three-fourths of the immense commerce of America are transacted here, and the exchanges of the world will ere long be regulated upon our counters. How can it be otherwise than the busiest of cities 1 Amidst the constant encroachments, called improvements, ever going on in this ancient city, before which our old but unvenerated historical land-marks are constantly bowing and being razed, and the temples of a past age are turned into the dens of the money-changers, innovation has as yet spared this charming spot ; and its old trees are suffered to grow on and extend their roots, fortunate, for us, if they escape the annual curtailment of branches, to which they are barbarously doomed by the unskilful. How often have I remonstrated with the three Vandals, who go about like cutters of cordwood, slashing and lopping and sawing away at the branches of those trees, by authority! The last answer I received from one of them was characteristic.

THE ROMANCE OF YACHTING.

" We can't help it, sir," said lie 5 " we are hired by the day to trim the trees, and we must earn our money. I say, Bob, saw off that big branch there ; it makes the tree look lop-sided !"

Accordingly down came one of the healthiest and largest arms of the finest of elms. But, barring this savage mutilation, the Battery to me is a jewel of inestimable value ; and when the promised fountains shall send up their mighty streams hereabout, I am sure that I may safely challenge the world to produce its equal, in a like combination of fortunate locality and loveliness.

Moored off the Battery, and within the cast of a biscuit, lay a fleet of gay pleasure Yachts, which could not fail to attract my attention ; and, in the end, the subject of Yachting gave me a good deal to think about — but, by your leave, gentle reader, I will give you the results in another chapter.

VOYAGE THE FIRST.

Chapter II. The Yacht " Re Stl Ess." 1616

The history of our Yachting begins with the earliest annals of this country. Yachting, singularly enough, lies at the foundation of our State enterprise, and our civilization ; and the subject naturally revives a portion of our much-neglected early history. It is connected, too, with a curious question, recently started by our eastern neighbors, involving State precedence ; and, as a thing of course, the Knickerbockers are made to play second in the discussion — that is, until we choose to speak for ourselves and vindicate our priority. This is easily done; but the game is hardly worth the powder, and to conquer such unscrupulous antagonists brings no accession of glory. As a matter of State pride, however, the question may be worth setting right, else, perhaps, we may shortly find ourselves, u by construction," entirely deprived of the distinctive character bequeathed to us by our ancestors.

We have been too busy, and too successful in trade and merchandise, in steamboats, canals, and railroads, in ships and cotton, tobacco and molasses, to regard the day of our small beginnings as worthy of the dignity of history. The consequence is that our cunning neighbors, writing histories for us, are running away with our materials, picking up and appropriating the scraps, that, when aggregated, make up the early years of our national character, and weaving them into their own peculiar annals.

Thus, while we were in fact the pioneer settlers of this continent, and gave life and impulse to every movement that proved successful on this side of the broad Atlantic, the selfish and mendacious spirit of Puritanism, which still lurks among us, is marking us down for " New England's eldest daughter !" Verily the bones of the early Knickerbockers will rise up in judgment against us, if we, their children, do not come to the rescue, and redeem our fair State from the undeserved and offensive imputation, of being the Puritanic daughter of our younger sister !

Let us hear one of these New England orators and travelling historians, while he holds forth among us at the Tabernacle, on the 22d of December, 1846, and discourses of the "Landing of the Pilgrims," on that "cold, barren rock of Plymouth."

From the " Pioneers of New- York," a powerful and well-written work of Mr. C. F. Hoffman, I extract the following curious piece of Puritanic history, as I find it introduced by that gentleman.

'In the first place, says Mr. Hoffman, I must attempt to meet a statement made by a learned gentleman, when last year addressing a large, enlightened, and influential association of descendants of the Puritans, from the spot where I now stand, [the Tabernacle.] The learned gentleman, eminent in New England letters, representing the Puritanic stock on that occasion, proclaimed to his brethren of the New England Society here in New- York, and through them to the New- York public, that

" Although some few settlements, and attempts at settlement, might have been previously made in America, yet the 22d of December, 1620, when the Pilgrims of the Mayflower landed at Plymouth, ought to be dated the actual opening of this Continent."

'He likewise, continues Mr. Hoffman, was understood to ascribe the introduction of " freedom, religion, and civilization," exclusively to the same Puritanic origin.'

Cool impudence, and falsification of history ! Pure Puritanic mendacity !

Had we centuries to spare, instead of a' few years, how easily, by this unscrupulous mode of appropriation, might these envious and selfish men emulate the Egyptian historians in fame, who in attempting to pluck the priority of the attainment of civilization, and the invention of letters, from the Phenicians, caused the remark to become current that " a century was nothing with a historian, when a favorite theory was to be established." The Phenicians, like ourselves, were too busy with the commerce of the world, planting colonies and extending civilization, to spend their time in writing histories ; and so they left the writing of their history to the indolent Egyptians, and the Egyptians robbed them of their birth-right.

Happily our Historical Society, by its recent translations of ancient Dutch documents, and the industry of such pureminded and able men as Hoffman, Brodhead, De Witt, and

THE ROMANCE OF YACHTING.

others, have furnished me with apt means to place this question of precedence as well as that of State character, in their true position.

If points of history are worth being stated at all, they are worth being stated fairly. The imaginary theory and assumptions of these New England people, which are not only uttered in pulpits and in lecture-rooms, but are finding their way into our elementary school books, appear to be meant so seriously of late, that we can no longer treat them as jokes beneath contempt. Such is the force of repetition and habit, that even their authors begin to believe in their truth.

Thus stating the case, we are alike put in the posture of defence and vindication. If we administer punishment also, it must be recollected that we are provoked to the encounter.

I find myself standing on the spot where the first vessel was built in America, or on " this Continent." It furnished evidence, as I have already said, of the priority of our enterprise, and a pregnant portent, foreshadowing our future history. But I must take care, it seems, that the Battery, whereon I stand, is not shortly overlaid and covered up with the Rock of Plymouth! So, using such defences and weapons as we have at hand, let us take to our tools chronologically.

1609. In this year the gallant Hendrick Hudson, in a vessel of eighty tons, entered and explored our harbor. After sailing up the Great North River, (which now bears his name,) as far as Albany, the head of tide water, and having abundant intercourse with the natives, and taking possession of the country in the name of his employers, the

Hollanders, (then the most active, wealthy, and enterprising commercial people in the world,) he left our waters. The interesting journal of his voyage, kept by his mate, is preserved among the Dutch records of that period. The wedge of our history was entered here, and " this Continent " begins to " open."

The Puritans, or Brownists, so called, about this time sought and obtained a refuge among the tolerant Dutch of Holland. They dreamed of no other enterprise, and were content to remain a peculiar people, zealous only of religious disputation.

" When the Puritans first went to Holland, they were known by the name of Brownists. The plan they set out upon was not to make a great colony in a little time, but to preserve a pure and distinct congregation."*

The nautical enterprise and the abundant maritime resources of the Dutch, whose navy, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, numbered ten ships to one for that of England, gave them pre-eminent advantages over that of all other nations in examining the indented coast of the whole Atlantic sea-board of America, and selecting the most eligible points for such colonies as they chose to plant. f

"One Dutch commercial establishment alone, without the aid of the Provincial or Federal Government of the United Provinces, could equip a fleet of fifty sail of the

Line."t

And thus it appears that our ancestors possessed the most ample means for colonization, and the result shows that they

* Hutchinson. f Hoffman. { Basnage.

entered upon that great design with a determined spirit, and with the most complete success. \

1612. They, the Dutch, had in 1612 a town and fort, now New- York; and in 1614 a town and fort near Albany.*

1613. The further progress of the vast and important discoveries of the Dutch, during this year, embracing the entire coast of New England, New-York, and New Jersey, with their sounds, harbors, and rivers, will appear more at large by the following record.

1614. On Saturday the 11th of October, 1614, five years after Hendrick Hudson, in a vessel of eighty tons burthen, had sailed up to the head of tide-water on the river which bears his name, there appeared before a meeting of the States-General convened at the Hague, the Deputies of the United Company of Merchants of the United Provinces. They stated that at great expense and heavy damage to themselves, arising from the loss of vessels during the last year, [1613,] they had with five ships, owned by them, discovered and explored certain new lands in America, between New France and Virginia, which they called New Netherland. They at the same time presented a map of the newly-discovered country, f

This, says Mr. Brodhead, marks the first official recognition of the existence of New Netherland ; its name occurs, for the first time, in the grant which was made to these merchants to plant here a colony.

Of the ships engaged in the exploration, which first gave

* Duiilap. t Hoffman.

a map of our eoast to the world, one was commanded by John De Witt, another by Adrian Block, a third by Cornelius May. An island in the Hudson River long bore the name of the first of these gallant sailors, and Block Island, and Cape May to this day tell us who were the hardy mariners who first explored them. The two remaining vessels were severally commanded by Captains Volkertsten and Christiansen. The name of the former has not yet appeared in our annals, but Hendrick Christiansen, (De Laet tells us,) was the first commandant of the first fort erected on Manhattan Island in 1614, and in the same year two. other forts were built on the Hudson — one at Esopus and one at the head of navigation near Albany. Six years later, and in the same year that the Puritans touched the rim of the coast at Plymouth, [1620,] the advance station of the commercial settlement of our province was on the Mohawk at Schenectady.*

1616. On the 18th of August, 1616, Captain Cornelius Hendrickson of Holland, appeared before a meeting of the States-General, in behalf of the Directors of New Netherland in America, (between New France and Virginia, and extending from 40 to 45 degrees of North Latitude,) and made a report of his having discovered and explored certain lands, a bay, and three rivers, situate between 38 and 40 degrees of North Latitude, in a small Yacht of sixteen tons burthen, named the " Onrust " (The Restless) which had been built there. He also presented to the States-General a descriptive map of the countries he had discovered and

♦Hoffman.

explored. This map is drawn on parchment, about two feet long and eighteen inches wide, and is executed in the most elegant style of art. It shows very accurately, says Mr. Brodhead, the situation of the coast from Nova Scotia to the Capes of Virginia, and the discoveries then made in Long Island Sound, and in the neighborhood of Manhattan. A fac-simile of this map is now in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany.*