A JOURNEY FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE TO PHILADELPHIA. 43
Tuesday, October 7. Took the Providence stage at five o'clock in the morn- ing, and arrived at Providence between eleven and twelve, and went directly on board the steamboat Chancellor Livingston, and soon after twelve left the wharf for Newport and New York. Arrived at Newport about half past three, and took in more passengers, making in ail about a hundred ; left the wharf in about half an hour, and proceeded on for New York. Wind strong ahead ; at sunset we were in the open sea N. W. from Block Island, which was just in sight, and a heavy sea was going, which pitched and rolled the boat so that few of the passengers walk the deck without staggering and stumbling, as if they were drunk ; this was a source of some merriment for a while, but before nine o'clock all the women but one and most of male passengers were sea sick ; the ladies confined themselves to their cabin, thirty or forty of them all sick together, and the female servants said there was a devil of a time amongst them. I stood it tolerable well, but could not eat any supper ; I sat down at the table, but it was in so much motion that my head began to fly round, and I cleared out for the deck again. I staid above until the tables were clearedoff and then went down and turned in. The lower cabin of this boat is used for a dining hall, and two tables are set the whole length of it, at which a hundred people can be comfortably seated, and the fare and attendance is much the same as it is in the first rate hotels. The upper cabin is not quite so large and is appropriated solely for the ladies. Gentlemen, however, are not denied access thereto. Both cabins are elegantly furnished with curtains and brass clasps all around the sides, and behind these curtains are the berths to sleep in. These berths are sufficiently large for one person each, and are in two rows, one over the other, so that those who sleep in the upper tier have to climb up by the lower one to get into them ; they are furnished with a mattrass, bed sheets, counterpane and pillow, and are quite comfortable ; they are all numbered, and when the passengers come on board they make it their first business to obtain the Way-Bill and enter their name against such number as they select, and I found that the stern berths were first taken up, they being further from the machinery and least exposed in case of bursting of the boiler or other acci- dent. In the fore end of the vessel there is another cabin, furnished in some- what the same style of the others. In this cabin is kept a bar where passen- gers resort for refreshment ; there is also a passage way from this room to the stern cabin on one side of the vessel, with a row of berths on one side of it, so that the berths go the whole length of the boat on one side. The machinery occu- pies the middle of the boat, and the cook room or kitchen the side opposite the passage way between the bow and stern cabins ; these are all on the lower deck. The middle deck is occupied by the ladies' cabin in the stern, baggage rooms, captain's room and captaui's office amidships, machinery in the centre, and an open deck forward, with wood rooms and convenient dressing rooms on each side. The upper deck is open, with railings all around. At the stern end of this deck is a kind of summer house, called the ladies' saloon, with glass windows all round, and seats within. The boat is about as long as a common ship, has three masts and sails to use when the wind serves. She travels at the rate of about eight or nine miles an hour with the steam alone, and ten or twelve when she has the advantage of a fair wind. The crew consists of the captam, his mate and clerk, a bar keeper, two engineers, about a dozen sailors, and porters, cooks, and servants, I don't know how many. This description applies to the Chancellor Livingston, but not to all the steamboats. The Living- ston is of the largest class of boats, and is an elegant vessel.
Wednesday, October 8, 1828. Got up this morning at 6 o'clock. Wind blew hard all night, and been in heavy sea all night, the vessel rolled and pitched exceedingly, but the wind has abated some and the water is not so
�� �
