This beautiful vessel, when measured by the custom officials, will register about 1150 tons. She is a real clipper, both in the sharpness of her ends, and the rise of her floor. Her lines too, are concave or hollow and remarkably clean below. She is 167½ feet long, on the keel, 188 between perpendiculars, and 193 over all; her extreme breadth of beam is 36 feet, depth of hold 22½, including 7½feet between decks; dead rise at half floor 27 inches, swell 6 inches, and sheer 3½ feet. Her cutwater forms the complete vertex of an angle, or in other words, her bow is wedge-like in form, though slightly concave on the water lines. Above there, it gradually swells into the convex, to harmonize with her outline on the rail. The cutwater, as it rises, springs outwards, but still preserves its angularity, and growing out of it is a torch-staff, grasped by a golden hand, and from the end blazes a golden light. The design is certainly original for a ship's head, and its workmanship is really excellent. It looks strangely, but is so well made that no one can fault with it.
She has a narrow waist of three strakes, defined between the mouldings of the upper wale and the planksheer, and these mouldings are continued parallel, fore and aft; but the mouldings of the main rail and planksheer terminates in an angle at the head.
Her sheer rises boldly forward, which gives her great apparent fore-rake, when viewed end on; but when scanned broadside on, its sweep appears in perfect harmony with her general outline. Her run is clean and finely formed, her stern light and graceful, swelling in gradual curves between the quarters, and is arched in outline below the rail, and elliptical above, in the form of the monkey rail. It is beautifully ornamented with gilded carved work, and other devices. She is sheathed with yellow metal, up to 16½ feet, and like other clippers is painted black above, and buff color inside.
Her bulwarks are 4 feet high, surmounted by monkey rail of 15 inches; and she has paneled bulwarks inside, cherry monkey-rail stanchions, and mahogany gangway boards, handsomely carved and brass mounted. She has a topgallant forecastle the height of the main rail, extending aft to the windlass, and abaft the foremast a house 32 feet long, 15 wide, and 6 high, with a passageway through its centre across, which protects the entrances to the sailors' quarters, the galley, and the other apartments into which the houses is divided.
She has a half-poop deck 30 feet long, with a house 24 feet long, built into its front. Her after cabin is sunk below the upper deck, but will not be fitted until she takes a trip around the world. The upper cabin is fitted with state-rooms and other apartments, and is neatly finished and furnished.
Her frame is of seasoned white oak; all her hooks, and all the knees and stanchions in the hold are also of white oak, and her scantling is of yellow pine. her keel is of rock maple, sided 15 inches and moulded 26; the floor timbers on the keel are sided from 12 to 13 inches, and moulded 16 inches, and her keelson is built of hard pine, in depths of 5 inches, each piece lock-scarphed, spiked together, and thus combined is sided 16 inches and moulded 40. The floor timbers have each two 1¼ inch copper bolts through them and the keel, the bolts driven alternately through half the depth of the keelson. The whole keelson is bolted through the navel timbers into the keel. This style of keelson, through common in ships of war, is new in merchant ships; but a glance will convince any one acquainted with shipping that it is an excellent plan.
The ceiling on her floor is 4 inches thick, and on the bilge, commencing below the first futtocks, there are six strakes of 8 by 12 inches, graduated to 7 and 6 inches thickness up to the deck. She has also for the lower ends of the hanging knees to rest upon, a stringer of 12 by 14 inches. She is square fastened throughout, and all her ceiling is scarphed, and is also bolted edgeways at every three feet. The lower deck beams are 14 by 15 inches, and those under the upper deck are 10 by 15, all of hard pine, and all bolted in the ends through the timbers and also through the clamps. Her between decks waterways are 14 by 16 inches, the two strakes over them 8 by 12, and the strake inside of them of the same size. These are all bolted vertically and horizontally, in the most substantial style, and the ceiling above varies from 4 to 6 inches, and the upper deck waterways are 10 by 12 inches, with two strakes of 4 by 6 inches inside of them, let into the beams below, and cross bolted. The planking of both decks is 3½ inches thick, the lower of hard pine and the upper of white pine.
Her stem is moulded 26 inches at the foot and 14 at the head, and the sternpost 2½ feet at the heel, and 18 inches at the head. The apron, dead-wood, stern knees, &c., are all heavily bolted and fitted with the utmost exactness. She has 7 hooks forward and 5 aft; her main transom is 18 inches square, and the others in proportion, all close together, so that her stern frame is solid.
The hanging knees in the hold are of oak, sided from 10 to 12 inches, and moulded from 20 to 23 inches in the throats -- have 5 feet bodies and 3½ arms, and from 16 to 18 bolts in each. The lodging knees are scarphed together in every berth. The knees in the between decks are of hacmatack of the same size. Her hold stanchions are of white oak, 10 inches square, kneed in the wake of the hatchways and clasped with iron elsewhere. The workmanship in her hold is of the most substantial kind, and shows more than usual care in the style of its finish. Of course, the between decks are as neatly finished as joiner work, because this is the first part of a ship that attracts the most attention; but this ship's hold, though not painted, is just as well turned out of hand as the between decks.
She has turned stanchions of oak in the between decks, and is painted white, except the thickwork, which is blue, and has as splendid a between decks as one would wish to see.
Her garboards are 7 by 12 inches, bolted both ways, the next strake 6 by 12, the whole graduated to 4 inches, the substance of the planking on the bottom, forming a slightly concave floor. The wales are 6 by 7 inches, and the waist 4 inches, and she is square fastened with locust and oak treenails, and is extra butt and bilge bolted with copper. The covering boards and main rail are each six inches thick; and outside as well as inside no vessel is more faithfully finished. her frame is seasoned with salt. She has brass ventilators along her planksheer and in her bitts, and Emerson's patent ventilators for the hold and between decks.
She has two beautiful brass mounted capstans, a powerful patent windlass, Crane's self-acting chain stoppers, now so generally in use, a patent steering apparatus, the best of ground tackle, 4 boats, an iron water tank of 2500 gallons capacity, and every other detail of a perfect ship.
Her fore and mainmasts are built of pieces, bolted together, and hooped over all, the mizzenmast is of a single spar, and her topmasts and jibbooms are of hard pine. She has the best of Russia hemp rigging, and is fitted aloft in superior style. The diameters of her lower masts, commencing with the fore, are 27, 28 and 24 inches, and their lengths, 74, 79 and 69 feet, including 12½. 13 and 10 feet heads; the topmasts in diameter are 15, 16 and 11½ inches, and 42, 44 and 32 feet in length, including 7½ feet heads to the fore and main, and 6 feet to the mizzen. She has pole topgallant, royal and skysail masts, in like proportions. Her lower yards are 16½, 19 and 13 inches in diameter, and 65, 74 and 53 feet square; the topsail yards are 14, 15½ and 10 inches in diameter, and 52, 60 and 42 feet square, including 4½ feet arms to the fore and main, and 4 to the mizzen -- just 6 inches longer than the arms of the lower yards; and the other yards are in proportion. She carries skysail yards rigged aloft, fore and aft. The bowsprit is 28 inches in diameter, and 26 feet outboard; jibboom divided at 18 and 14 feet outside of the cap, for the standing and flying jibs; spanker boom 45 feet long, gaff 38, and main spencer gaff 24 feet. Her spars were made by Messrs. Blanchard & Caldwell, of Charlestown, and were rigged by Capt. Brewster, of East Boston, and both have performed their work well. Mr. J.W. Mason, one of the best carvers in the country, executed her carved work.
She was built at South Boston, by Messrs. E. & H.O. Briggs, the builders of the Winged Arrow, Southern Cross, and many other famous clippers, and, in her workmanship, she will compare favorably with any vessel of her size that we have seen. She is owned by Messrs. F. & J.W. Huckins, and Capt. Huckins superintended her construction and equipment. To his skill as a sailor, may be attributed the completeness of her equipments. Capt. Chas. Winsor, well known in this port as a first rate sailor, will command her. She lies near the end of Commercial wharf, and is now loading with despatch in Winsor's line of San Francisco clippers.
Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius.
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