CHAPTER III
JOURNEY TO AMERICA AND FIRST
EXPERIENCES THERE
Being thus generously provided for, we
embarked at Whompoa on the 4th of January,
1847, in the good ship “Huntress” under
Captain Gillespie. As stated above, she
belonged to the Olyphant Brothers and was loaded
with a full cargo of tea. We had the northeast
trade wind in our favor, which blew strong and
steady all the way from Whompoa to St.
Helena. There was no accident of any kind,
excepting a gale as we doubled the Cape of Good
Hope. The tops of the masts and ends of the
yards were tipped with balls of electricity. The
strong wind was howling and whistling behind
us like a host of invisible Furies. The night
was pitch dark and the electric balls dancing
on the tips of the yards and tops of the masts,
back and forth and from side to side like so many
infernal lanterns in the black night, presented a
spectacle never to be forgotten by me. I realized
no danger, although the ship pitched and
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