The following accounts are from a diary (day 1 thru 7) kept by Samuel A. Paul on his journey, along with his mother and possibly his sister, Mary, to America from County Antrim, North Ireland. The journey by the ship, Tripoli, began from Liverpool, England, to New York City beginning the 9th of November, 1867, on to Philadelphia and arriving in Walcott, Iowa November 29, 1867.
Samuel A. Paul (1840-1919) was the son of John and Margaret Buick Paul. His sister was also named Margaret who was married to Thomas M. Laverty and great-grandfather of Dennis M. Laverty.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 1-Saturday, November 9th, 1867
The Tripoli left Liverpool on the 9th of November, 1867 at 10:30 A.M. Then they lay out in the channel till 5:00 in the evening. That was Saturday.
The passengers were mostly all Dutch and two of them played fiddles and two of them played harps. That was on on Saturday night. A great many others were singing. So we had plenty of music. I went to bed this night about 9:00.
Day-2 Sunday, November 10th, 1867
And rose about 6:30 a.m. on the Sabbath. I heard some fiddling when I rose this morning and one was playing a concerti. This day the pilot came on board from Queenstown at 4:00 in the evening. They then stopped the engine and dropped anchor and got supper at 6:00. Then one of them got upon the deck and sang songs and others were courting.
We had one passenger who was dividing tracts among some of them and telling them that there were only two ways to go when they would die. When one of he sailors asked him "Where do you think I will go when I die?" "Why to heaven to be sure." The man replied, "No" said of his brother. "I would like to go to fiddlers green, where there is plenty of fun." They amused themselves until 10:00 when most of them went to bed and fell asleep. I was awakened at 12:00 (midnight) by two or three of them in our room who began arguing politics or the laws of America. This was the Sabbath. The 10th of November.
Day 3-Monday, November 11th, 1867
Then Monday the tinder came with passengers from Queenstown and got them on board about 11:00 in the morning. This morning two boats came along to the ship with women who had apples and oranges to sell.
We had rough sea and most of the passengers were sick. We passed Lochhaven Lighthouse at 5:00 in the evening. Then we passed Scullhead Lighthouse at 7:00 P.M. Scullhead stands on the north side of Ireland. This is the last lighthouse that we see leaving Ireland.
I went to bed at 9:00. This was Monday the 11th. But, I have omitted to say that on Saturday after we came on board, we were all told to go the cabin deck. And, then we passed before the doctor and gave him our duplicate ticket to them.
Then on the Sabbath, after dinner, we were ordered on deck again and ordered to show the other part of our ticket which one of the officers took from us and gave them to the storage steward. I thought we ought to have been able to have kept part of the ticket.
We had a pretty calm sea on Monday, the 11th. They had some of her sails set in the evening. The wind was on the left side.
Day 4-November 12th, 1867
Then on Tuesday morning they let out the rest of the cloth. But, it was only for about an hour and a half or so until they rolled it all up and tied it fast to the beams.
This day about 10:00 in the morning, the passenger were ordered on deck and some were so sick that they were carried on deck. This day the carpenter nailed up a bill stating that immigrants should not give up their contract ticket to anyone but the immigrant official.
There was a side wind on this day and the sea was a little rough. Still, we had some stir on board. One man played the fiddle and some danced. This was on the deck below. They were also busy playing cards. On this day I saw a steamer. She was going to Liverpool. This was on the 12th of November.
Day 5-Wednesday, November 13th, 1867
On Wednesday, I arose and went on deck. The spray was dashing over the bulwark. You would have thought it was raining. But, it was not long until it got worse.
The wind was right ahead of the ship and a person could not stand on deck without being wet. For every little while a great wave would dash over the foredeck. Sometimes it would dash up over the cooking house and then run down on people that would be standing about.
I got pretty wet myself. That day I was up on deck and was standing at the side of the cooking house when a great wave came over the cooking house and ran down upon my head so that I got wet all over.
Some of the people that were standing by laughed heartily at me, but I had not long to wait until I got a laugh at them. For a few minutes another wave came over the ship and cooking house and ran down upon them which I was not sorry to see.
At the same time the water was ankle deep on deck. For the greater part of the day the way that the water came over, the carpenter closed the front hatchway and nailed canvasses on it to keep out the water.
The ship is rolling from side to side and heaving up and down so that it is very hard to keep from falling. It is now 9:00 at night and it is as course as ever. Blowing so hard that it would almost blow a man off his feet and the water still dashing over her forepart.
The wind is now on the right side of the ship and is blowing very strong. But, clear sky and moon so clear that I could almost see to read. Wednesday night it was very stormy all night. This was the 13th.
Day 6-Thursday, November 14th, 1876
The 14th came but the sea is still rough. I saw a ship this morning. It was going toward Liverpool. Also, I saw four fish that came along side of the ship and then would rise and jump six or eight feet or perhaps I might say "ten yards" at a jump. They could go twice as fast as the ship was going. They ran along the side of the ship for a considerable distance. The had small heads
with a nose not very unlike a hog. I learned that they were what they call "sea hogs."
Day 7-Friday, November 15th, 1876
Then on Friday the 15th it was very calm and beautiful with scarcely a ruffle on the face of the water. I would hardly believe that the sea would have been so still and smooth if I had not seen it. I saw five ships today all bound towards England. About two o'clock a fine gale of wind arose blowing from the south. They unfurled all the sails. They were making more speed than they had done since we started. Although, it was only a side wind.
It is now ten o'clock P.M. and it is pretty rough. It was stormy all night with rain. Two men had a great argument on politics and about blacks. It was in the room that I was in. One of them thought the blacks ought to be on equal footing.
No comments:
Post a Comment