University of Virginia Library

90. Difficulties of Ocean Travel
BY JOHN TRUMBULL (1780-1781)[218]

Two opportunities offered for going to America; one was on a small fast sailing merchant vessel, unarmed, and relying entirely upon her speed to avoid the British cruisers which she must expect to meet; the other was the South Carolina, commanded by Commodore Gillon, a frigate of the first class, too strong to fear anything less than a ship of the line.

I chose the Carolina. Several of us passengers went on board, and on the 12th of August, soon after sunrise, the wind began to blow from the northwest, directly on shore, with every appearance of a heavy gale. The proper thing to have done, was to have run back into the Texel roads, but that we dared not do, lest the ship should be seized. We dared not run for the English channel, lest we should fall in with British cruisers of superior force.

The gale soon increased to such a degree, that it would have been madness to remain at anchor on such a lee shore. The only thing which could be done, therefore, was to lay the ship's head to the northeast, and carry sail. A fog soon came on, so

thick that we could hardly see from stem to stern; the gale increased to a very hurricane, and soon brought us to close-reefed topsails. The coast of Holland was under our lee, and we knew that we were running upon the very edge of the sands, which extend so far from the shore, that if the ship should touch, she must go to pieces before we could even see the land, and all hands must perish. We passed the morning in the deepest anxiety; in the afternoon we discovered that we had started several of the bolts of the weather main-chain plates. This forced us to take in our close-reefed topsails, as the masts would no longer bear the strain of any sail aloft, and we were obliged to rely upon a reefed foresail.

By this time, we knew that we must be not far from Heligoland, at the mouth of the Elbe, where the coast begins to trend to the northward, which increased the danger. At ten o'clock at night, a squall struck us heavier still than the gale, and threw our only sail aback; the ship became unmanageable, the officers lost their self-possession, and the crew all confidence in them, while for a few minutes all was confusion and dismay.

Happily for us, Commodore Barney was among the passengers, (he had just escaped from Mill prison in England,) hearing the increased tumult aloft, and feeling the ungoverned motion of the ship, he flew upon deck, saw the danger, assumed the command, the men obeyed, and he soon had her again under control.

It was found that with the squall the wind had shifted several points, so that on the other tack we could lay a safe course to the westward, and thus relieve our mainmast. That our danger was imminent

no one will doubt, when informed that on the following morning, the shore of the Texel Island was covered with the wrecks of ships, which were afterwards ascertained to have been Swedish.

Among them was a ship of seventy-four guns, convoying twelve merchantmen all were wrecked, and every soul on board perished. The figure-head of the ship-of-war, a yellow lion, the same as ours, was found upon the shore, and gave sad cause to our friends for believing, for some time, that the South Carolina had perished.

When the gale subsided, we stood to the northward, made the Orkneys, then Shetland, and when off Faro encountered another gale, more furious, if possible, than that of the 12th, but we had now sea-room and deep water. In the night, however, the ship labored so heavily as to roll the shot out of her lockers.

Several of us passengers had our cots slung in the great cabin, over the guns, which were forty-two pounders, and it was by no means a pleasant sight to see several dozens of these enormous shot rolling from side to side of the ship, with the roar of thunder, and crushing all that stood in their way, whether furniture, trunks or chests, while we hung over them swinging in our hammocks. This difficulty was overcome, and the rolling of the shot stopped, by throwing the sailors' hammocks among them.

Another danger was also apprehended that some of the immense heavy guns might break loose. They were secured by running one of the cables outside, fore and aft, in front of the open port-holes, and passing strong lashings around that; by this addition to the usual ring-bolts, all was held safe until the gale was over.

We had now cleared the land of the British islands, and were off the west coast of Ireland, when it was thought to be necessary to examine into the state of our provisions and water. We were short; consequently, instead of continuing our course for America, it was determined to bear away for Corunna in Spain, the nearest friendly port.

We arrived in safety, in a few days. There we found the Cicero, of twenty guns and one hundred and twenty men, belonging to the house of Cabot in Beverly. She was to sail immediately for Bilboa, there to take on board a cargo, which was lying ready for her, and to sail for America.

The usual time required to run from Corunna to Bilboa was two to three days. We were again unfortunate; the wind being dead a-head, we were twenty-one days in making the passage, and, as if Jonah himself had been among us, at the end of eighteen days, we fell in with a little fleet of Spanish coasters who told us that they had seen a ship and two brigs, which they believed to be British cruisers. At sunset we saw what appeared to be the force described, and about midnight found we were within hail.

The Cicero ran close alongside of the ship, and hailed her in English no answer; in French no answer. The men, who were at their guns, impatient of delay, did not wait for orders, but poured in her broadside; the hostile squadron (as we supposed them) separated, and made all sail in different directions, when a boat from the large ship came alongside with her captain, a Spaniard, who informed us that they were Spanish vessels from St. Sebastians, bound to the West Indies that his ship was very

much cut in her rigging, but happily, no lives lost. He had mistaken us for British vessels, and was delighted to find his mistake. We apologized for ours, offered assistance, and we parted most amicably.

No accident befel, until the last day of our passage. We saw the land of America, (the Blue Hills of Milton, near Boston,) in the afternoon of a beautiful day in January; at six o'clock, P.M., we laid the ship's head to the eastward, and stood off under easy sail

until midnight, when we hove about, and stood in to the westward, under the same sail. We expected to find ourselves at sunrise, at about the same distance from the land, and all was joy and merriment on board, at the near approach of home.

One honest old tar was happily on the lookout, and at three o'clock sung out from the forecastle, "breakers! breakers! close under our bow, and right ahead!" He was just in time; the crew, though merry, were obedient, and flew upon deck in time to escape the danger.

We found we were close upon the rocks of Cape Ann. We must have been drifted by a very strong current, for our course had been careful, and could never have brought the ship there. Before noon, we were safe in the port of Beverly, where we found eleven other ships, all larger and finer vessels than the Cicero all belonging to the same owners, the brothers Cabot laid up for the winter.

Yet such are the vicissitudes of war and the elements, that before the close of the year they were all lost by capture or wreck, and the house of Cabot had not a single ship afloat upon the ocean. In the evening, after we got into port, a snow storm came on, with a heavy gale from the eastward. The roads were so completely blocked up with snow, that they were impassable, and we did not get up to Boston until the third day; but I was at last safe on American land, and most truly thankful.