^ I     A VOYAGE ON A CLIPPER-SHIP IN THE

SEVENTIES

•   '                            William Allen Butler

Xwas invited in the .Spring of 1872 to go on the
famous yacht "America" to the thousandth anni¬
versary of the Island of Iceland. My parents
could not bring their minds to my being many months
away with no possibility of hearing from me. So I re¬
fused an invitation, which, to a young man of nineteen,
was a great sacrifice. Apparently the Icelanders only
celebrate but once in a thousand years. So I had no
hopes for a second invitation.

Shortly after, my mother's cousin. Captain Charlie
Marshall, called to say that he was in command of an
Al, wire-rigged Clipper Ship built by Wm. H. Webb,
a famous ship builder of those days. This ship was
named after my mother's father. Captain Charles H.
Marshall, who had died in 1865. He was one of the
founders and owners of the famous Black Ball Line of
packets. Cousin Charlie invited me to go with him; and
my mother, as a reward for declining the Iceland trip,
out of consideration to her, gladly consented.

On May 20, 1872, we were towed down the harbor.
The crew consisted of Captain Marshall, first and sec¬
ond mates,  boatswain,  cook,  steward,  and  twenty-two

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