DESSERT
A Clipper Sets Out on the Cape Horn Road by Arthur H. Clark
W'hen Captain Clark first went to sea, the era of the clipper ships was just ending. As the tall ships with their sharp bows and long black hulls driven by towering rigs were vanishing over the horizon of time he set about gathering records, memories, and even the songs of the clipper crews. In this passage from his classic work, The Clipper Ship Era, published in 1910, he gives us the lively scene of a
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clipper getting under way offNew York's Battery Park. Crowds gathered to see the spectacle and hear the songs of the ship's people hoistingyards and tramping around the capstan on the forecastle head to weigh anchor. In Clark's account we do better than watch from shoreside. He takes you aboard, onto the decks crowded with hurrying men as the ship gets under way, outward bound on her 16, 000-mile voyage to San Francisco.
n those days, afte r a New York clipper kling of Spaniards, Portuguese, and Italhad finished loading, it was the custom ians, and one or rwo Americans. Some wear for her ro drop down the East River and thick, coarse, red, blue, or gray flannel anchor off Battery Park, th en a fas hionable shirrs, others blue dungaree jumpers, o r reso rt, where she would remain for a few cotton shirrs of vario us co lors; their trouhours to rake her crew on board and usually sers are in a va riety of drabs, blues, grays, ro ship from five ro ten tons of gunpowder, and browns, suppo rted by leather belts or a part of her cargo rhar was stowed in the braces; rhey wear stiff o r soft felr hats o r main hatch, ro be easily handled in case of woollen caps of many colors. But no clothes fire . Towboats were not as pl entiful in New rhat were ever invented could disguise these York harbor as at present, and unless the men; their bronzed, weather-beaten faces wi nd was ah ead or calm, rhe clippers sel- and sun-baked, rarrooed ar ms, with every do m made use of them, for with a leading swing of their bodies, betray them as breeze these ships would sail to and from sailormen, and good ones roo, above rhe Sandy Hook much faster than they could ave rage even in those days. They wo uld no be rowed. One of rhe clippers getting un- more submit to being put into uniforms or der way off Battery Park was a beautiful ro rhe cur-and-dried disciplin e of a mansight, and an event in which a large part of of-war, rhan rhey would think of earin g their food ar a table with knives and forks . rhe community was interested. The people who gathered ar Battery They are all pretty full of alcohol , bur Park ro see a clipper ship get under way, the sailor instinct is so srrong in them that came partly ro hear rhe sai lors si ng thei r sea they do their work as well , some of rhem so ngs, or chanties, which were an impor- perhaps better, than if they were sober. tant pan of sea life in those days, giving a There is no romance about them or abour zest and cheeriness on shipboard, which any part of their lives; th ey are simply nothing else could supply. I t used robe said co mmon, every-day sailo rs, and will never rhar a good ch an ty man was worth four men be anything else, unless they happen ro in a watch, and rhis was rru e, fo r when a encounter so me inspired writer of fiction; crew knocked offchan tying, rherewassome- then iris diffi cu lt ro say what may become thing wrong-the ship seemed lifeless .... of them. Some of them have much good in T here is a crisp northeasterl y breeze, rheir natures, others are sarurated with evil, and rhe blue wa ters of the bay dan ce and and all need ro be handled with tact and frolic in the sweet June sunshin e. T he crew judgment, for too much severity, or on rhe are all on board, wirh the cap tai n and pilo t other hand any want of firmness, may lead in consulrarion o n rhe quarterdeck; ir is ro trouble, wh ich means rhe free use of nearly high water, and rh e ride wi ll soon kni ves, belaying pins, and knuckle-dusters. run ebb . Th e mare rakes charge of rhe Now rhe fl ood-ride begins ro slacken , topgallant forecas tl e, with the rhird mare and as rhe ship swings ro rhe wind, rhe and rhe boatswain to ass ist him , while rhe order is passed along from aft to man rhe second mate, wit h the fo urth mate and windlass and heave short. We hear rhe boatswain 's mate work the main deck and mate sing o ut in a pl easant, chee ry voice: stand by ro look after rh e chain as it comes "Now, then, boys, heave away on the windin over rhe windlass. lass breaks; strike a light, it's duller than an As rhe crew muster on the forecastle old graveyard." And the chantyman, in an they appear to be a motl ey gang, mostl y advanced stage of hilario us in toxication , British and Scandinavian, with a sprin- gay as a skylark, sa il s into so ng:
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"Jn eighteen hundred and forty-six, I found myselfin the hell ofa fix, A-working on the railway, the railway, the railway. Oh, poor Paddy works on the railway. "Jn eighteen hundred and forty-seven, When Dan O'Connolly went to heaven, He worked upon the railway, the railway, the railway. Poor Paddy works on the railway, the railway. "Jn eighteen hundred and forty-eight, I found myselfbound for the Golden Gate, A-working on the railway, the railway. Oh, poor Paddy works on the railway, the railway. "Jn eighteen hundred and forty-nine, I passed my time in the Black BalL Line, A-working on the railway, the railway, I weary on the railway, Poor Paddy works on the railway, the railway. " And so on ro the end of the centu ry, o r until rhe mare sings out, "Vast heaving, " lifts his hand, and reports ro rhe captain : "The anchor's apeak, sir." "Very good, sir, loose sails fore and afr. " "Aye, aye, sir. " "Aloft there so m e of yo u and loose sails. One hand stop in the tops and crosstrees ro overhaul the gear." "Aye, aye, sir. Royals and skysails?" "Yes, royals and skysails; leave rhe staysails fast." "Lay o ur rhere, fo ur or five of yo u, and loose rhe h ead sai ls. " "H ere, you fellow in the gree n-sported shirr, lay down our of rhar; there's men enough up there now to eat those sails. " "Mr. Sampson, take some of your m en aft and look after the main and mizzen; put a hand at rhe wheel; as he goes alo ng let him clear the ensign halliards; whi le yo u' re waiting lay rhar acco mmodation ladlder in o n deck; leave the spanker fast. " "C) n the foreropsa il ya rd, there, if yo u cut that : gasket, I'll sp lit yo ur damned skull; cast it acd rift, yo u lubber." "Boatswa in , get
SEJA HISTORY 88, SPRI G 1999