The Westward Ho!

Following the Deep Sea Derby run around the Horn to San Francisco in 1853, the Flying Fish and Westward Ho raced across the Pacific to Manila, the race won by the Westward Ho, with the First Mate in command who had replaced the drunken Captain Johnson. The Westward Ho sailed from Manila three weeks later, one day ahead of the Flying Fish, and sailed for Batavia around the same time the Flying Fish sailed for New York, thus ending the contest between the two.

The Westward Ho arrived at Batavia after a 29-day slow run against the monsoon, and then proceeded on across the Indian Ocean around the Cape of Good Hope.

There, she ran into a heavy squall and lost her jibboom. Whereas, the First Mate put into St. Helena for repairs before sailing on to New York, arriving there 35 days later, eight months, ten days after leaving that port on her maiden run around the Horn.

Boston merchants, Sampson & Tappan, it is said, were somewhat disappointed with the Westward Ho's maiden voyage around the world, even though she had made a very credible run around the Horn in 103 days, regardless of her drunken captain. But the victory of the Flying Fish in the Deep Sea Derby had given them something to boast about and they basked in the glory of the Flying Fish and focused their attention back to their earlier acquisition.

At New York, Captain Hussey came aboard to take command of the Westward Ho and from that point on, while under American ownership, the Westward Ho would gain fame throughout the world as one of the fastest clippers in the fleet. Hussey established a record of consistently fast runs over long completed passages and undoubtedly made some spectacular runs over this period.

But Captain Hussey was a captain who shunned the limelight and was not prone to bragging about it as other captains who commanded McKay clippers were known to do. Captain Hussy concentrated his energies and nautical skills over the course of the entire passage. Paying close attention to the ever changing sailing conditions as to the wind and sea, making efficient use of spars and sails to quickly reach her ports of destination and deliver her cargoes intact, all the while keeping expenses at a minimum.

On November 14, 1853, the Westward Ho cleared New York for her second run around the Horn. She crossed the line in 24 days while chasing after the Eagle, that had cleared New York ten days before on her fast 104-day run around the Horn under the command of Captain Farran.

The Westward Ho sighted the Celestial while passing through the Straits of Le Maire and encountered the John Stuart off Cape Horn, and the Westward Ho led both clippers through the Golden Gate by eight days and four days, respectively. The Eagle, that had also made a 24-day run to the line, was never within Captain Hussey's sight over the Westward Ho's second voyage.

High seas and heavy gales were blowing off Cape Horn as the Westward Ho approached and it took her 18 days to get around to the Pacific. Upon crossing the equator, she made a very fast run to San Francisco, arriving there 18 days later with a 105-day passage from New York, port to port, one day longer than the Eagle's 104-day passage. Still, she beat all the other clippers of the fleet that had sailed from Eastern ports around that same time, and those were: the Ringleader, Matchless, Golden City, Spitfire, Cyclone, Syren, Don Quixote, Dashing Wave, Coringa, and Lightfoot.

he Westward Ho encountered light and baffling winds over the 87-day transpacific run to Calcutta and she reached Singapore 70 days out, before sailing on to India.

Upon taking on cargo at Calcutta, the Westward Ho sailed for Boston and arrived there after a 103-day passage, completing her second circumnavigation of the globe in one year, twelve days, including stays in port.

For her third run around the Horn, the Westward Ho would join in a most interesting contest with Neptune's Car, a sharp, splendid clipper ship of 1616 tons that measured out at 216 x 40 x 23: 6. This clipper was designed by William Webb, and said to resemble Donald McKay's Flying Cloud.

Neptune's Car was launched from the Page & Allen shipyard of Portsmouth, Virginia on April 16, 1853, the only large clipper ever to be built in that state.

At around the same time of her launching, there was a lull in the California trade and her New York owners, Foster & Nickerson, put the Neptune's Car up for a round maiden voyage to England.

She returned to New York and took on a cargo of general merchandise for her first run around the Horn to San Francisco, under the command of Captain Forbes, and sailed on October 15, 1853.

For ten days heavy gales baptized the Neptune's Car off Cape Horn and she arrived through the Golden Gate after a passage of 117 days. The Neptune's Car then sailed across the Pacific to Singapore and Calcutta. Then back to New York from that Indian port in 109 days, arriving in the East River on October 29, 1854.

Foster & Nickerson were well pleased with the performance of the Neptune's Car and upon unloading her cargo, put her up for another run around the Horn for San Francisco. But then, Captain Forbes suddenly became ill and the owners had to quickly find another captain, one that they could depend upon to get a swift passage from their clipper.

The command was offered to Captain Joshua A. Patten, of Rockland, Maine, a young captain of 26 years of age, who had already risen through the ranks and proven his ability to make fast voyages aboard every New England ship he sailed. Yet, the young captain hesitated at first to take command of the large lofty clipper which undoubtedly he longed to do. Until he was able to convince Messrs. Foster & Nickerson of New York to let him take his young wife, Mary Ann, aboard for the Neptune's Car's second voyage around the world.

Mary Ann Brown, while only sixteen-years-old had married Joshua Patten, ten years her senior, in April of 1853. Coincidentally, around the same time as the Neptune's Car had slid down the ways into Portsmouth, Virginia Harbor. But it would be another year and nine months before he took on the command of this clipper that would one day demand so much of his time, like a competing mistress to his wife.

Mary Ann Patten was a slim delicate girl with dark hair from a large family of English-born parents that lived on Salutation Street in East Boston. Her large dark eyes portrayed a soft feminine persona that endeared her to many. Mary Ann Patten showed little hesitation in agreeing to accompany her husband on his first voyage in command of the Neptune's Car, and by one account, both were aboard the clipper at New York "within twelve hours after they had been notified."

The Neptune's Car left with the tide in company with the barque Greenfield, down the East River on January 14, 1855, one day after the Mystic medium clipper Elizabeth F. Willets had sailed from New York and the Westward Ho had sailed from Boston. Other clippers to sail in the days following through the end of January included: Syren, Harriet Hoxie, Adelaide, Kathay, Kingfisher, and Phoenix.

In February: Paragon, Harvey Birch, Winged Racer, Herald of the Morning, Samuel Russell, Flying Cloud, Dashing Wave, White Squall, Samuel Willetts, Atalanta, Northern Empire, Key Stone, Red Rover, John Milton, and Monsoon sailed from Eastern ports to the Golden Gate.

The White Squall was dismasted in the South Atlantic and forced to put into Rio de Janeiro for repairs, re-rigged as a barque, and returned to New York.

The Westward Ho ran from Boston Light to the equator in 23 days, bettering the passage of the South Boston clipper of that same name, Boston Light. The Boston Light had sailed from New York on December 30, 1854, on her maiden voyage, and had crossed the line in 24 days, 20 hours, under the command of Captain Callaghan.

Neptune's Car also crossed the line in 24 days, west of the Westward Ho by 294 miles, as their respective captains plotted out very different courses in their race around the Horn.

Captain Patten sailed a shorter course down the Atlantic much closer to Cape St. Roque, thus gaining on the Westward Ho in the southern latitudes. The Neptune's Car was 54 days to Cape Horn, where the lofty clipper made it around to the Pacific in eight days and crossed the line in the Pacific in 79 days. She was making a very fine run for the Golden Gate when the wind died and left her becalmed for eight days.

This was the second passage around the Horn for Neptune's Car and the first under Captain Joshua Patten's command of the lofty clipper. The stormy passage had taken a toll. Squalls had carried away her jibboom and a number of jibs and light stay sails and split her royals as Patten was prone to keep as much sail aloft as he could right up to the point of disaster and recorded in his log "Neptune's doing her best."

Strong gales blew off Cape Horn at the time of the Westward Ho's arrival. She was off the Cape for 12 days, and 80 days out from Boston crossed the equator in the Pacific. A distance traveled according to her ship's log, of 14,034 miles that averaged out to 175.42 miles a day at 7.3 knots, with a best day's 24-hour run of 315 miles at 13 1/8 knots. But there were times that she "frequently logged 16 knots," fast time, but less than her best day's run of 376 miles of her first voyage under her drunken captain who was fortunate to have the winds in his favor.

The Westward Ho arrived through the Golden Gate on April 24, 1855, with a passage of 100 days, 18 1/2 hours from Boston, after a voyage of 17,123 miles. Neptune's Car arrived the next day with a passage of 100 days, 23 1/2 hours from New York, and there was much lively discussion in the San Francisco newspapers as to which clipper made the fastest passage.

Also credited with a very fine run during that period, was the South Boston clipper Boston Light that had arrived in San Francisco on April 11th, with a 102-day run from Boston. This fine medium clipper was a credit to her builders, E. & H. O. Briggs, who had also built the very similar clipper Northern Light that had earlier set the record for the San Francisco to New York run back around the Horn.

The Westward Ho and Neptune's Car were both scheduled to make the transpacific passage to Hong Kong and Captain Hussey of the Westward Ho offered to wager a large amount of money in a race against Neptune's Car across the Pacific, but could find no backers for the other clipper.

The Westward Ho and Neptune's Car left San Francisco for Hong Kong on the same day, May 13, 1855, for what would be a "drifting match across the Pacific." Where Neptune's Car found the more favorable winds and crossed the Pacific in 50 days, 11 days; faster than the 61 days it took the Westward Ho to make the passage, where she "barely moved for days at a stretch," and it was fortunate for Captain Hussey that no one took him up on his wager.

It was under the starry Pacific skies where Mary Ann Patten learned many of the secrets of navigation from her husband as a good way to pass the time over the course of a long, difficult, and tedious passage.

Mary learned how to box the compass and shoot the sun. In time, she was able to understand the tables from Samuel Bowditch's American Practical Navigator and learned much as well from Maury's Sailing Directions and Wind and Current Charts.

Neptune's Car sailed with a crew of 18 Lascars and 14 white seamen. One of the Lascars, Sinbad, had fallen from the upper deck and was injured. Another of the Lascars, Manilas, fell overboard.

Captain Patten brought the ship into the wind and a life boat hastily lowered to make a frantic search, but unfortunately the crew was unable to find the Lascar, who most certainly drowned after those many hours spent searching for him.

The winds died off around that time and the rest of her passage across the Pacific was slowed to a crawl. Still, the Neptune's Car bettered the Westward Ho by 11 days in the race across the Pacific to Hong Kong, and with this victory was able to secure another charter to continue on with her around the world voyage.

Under charter, Neptune's Car loaded at Foo Chow and sailed for London and arrived at that port 81 days from Anjier. On the passage from London to New York across the Atlantic, her foremast was struck by lightning and several of her crew were injured.

Mary Ann Patten had accompanied Joshua around the world aboard the Neptune's Car, and the two had arrived back at New York in early 1856, after a profitable voyage. Messers. Foster & Nicker son had every confidence in Captain Joshua Patten to make future voyages in command of Neptune's Car, and if the good captain wanted to take his wife along again that was fine by them. Their next voyage would prove to be one of the most enduring sagas of the sea.

Captain Hussey of the Westward Ho could not find a cargo in China for a profitable homeward passage around the Cape of Good Hope. Neither could the other Sampson & Tappan clipper, Winged Racer, which soon joined the Westward Ho at Hong Kong Harbor, after a transpacific passage from San Francisco, following a 121-day run around the Horn from Boston.

The Westward Ho and Winged Racer then sailed together to Swatow and loaded 800 Chinese coolies aboard the Westward Ho and 700 more aboard the Winged Racer for a passage back across the Pacific to Callao, Peru.

The coolie trade was one of the sorriest chapters in the history of sail. Chinese miners and laborers had been crossing the Pacific in Yankee ships ever since the gold rush. By 1854, many of them had returned to Macao and Canton with wild stories of gold strikes by their countrymen. These stories spurred on new waves of Chinese immigration to California as thousands sold their farms and shops or borrowed money from their relatives to pay their passages. Thus, the passenger carrying trade between Hong Kong and California quickly grew and ships in various states of seaworthiness were eagerly bought at exorbitant prices and immediately entered into this lucrative trade.

Many Chinese making the passage to California were greeted with discrimination and prejudice upon arrival at San Francisco and in the gold fields. But these tribulations could hardly be compared to the fate of almost a million coolies who were shipped out to Cuba in the West Indies, Java, the Sandwich Islands, and Australia. And for those unfortunate souls who were shipped to Callao, it was a living hell.

Ship owners could hardly afford to wait around for weeks in port for a California cargo, and out of economic necessity many of their ships were forced to join the growing numbers of clippers entering into the cotton and lumber trades or worse, the detestable slave, coolie, and guano trades.

Guano was the cargo of last resort, but it was in great demand. It was a sad irony that majestic clipper ships that had begun their illustrious careers shipping home teas and silks from China, now transported coolies in deplorable conditions to the guano islands of Callao and the Chinchas, three rocky barren islets located twelve miles off the coast of Peru.

To the ship owners, the coolie trade was a profitable business upon reaching their destination, as each coolie sold would bring, on average, a one-hundred and fifty dollar profit, and 800 coolies cramped into the hold of a clipper ship could bring in over $100,000 in revenue to the ship owner.

The Portuguese had begun the coolie trade in 1847, when 300 coolies came aboard the Dom Pedro and sailed for Callao, Peru, to work as laborers on a plantation near Callao. A brisk trade developed and demands for more coolies increased. Placards began appearing around Amoy and other regions with invitations for Chinese to go abroad and contract themselves out as sugar planters, laborers, and shepherds for five to eight years.

The allurement used was an offer of four dollars a month, two suits of clothes, free medical attention, ample food, land for their own cultivation, and Sundays off. They were invited to take their wives and children along at free passage and they were told that after a year if they so desired, they could be released from their contracts. These offers were all lies and the truth of the deplorable conditions at Callao eventually found its way back to China and the numbers of volunteer laborers quickly ceased to exist.

But the demand for Chinese slave labor did not fade away for they were in great demand in the West Indies and Australia as well as Peru. What by this time had become the nefarious coolie trade would take many sinister turns to come up with their human cargo.

The greatest number of coolies came from three classes.

Numerous clan fights produced a steady supply of coolies as prisoners taken by the victorious clans were sold to Portuguese and Chinese buyers for up to ten dollars a head.

Half-caste pirates in lorchas skulked along the coast and islands in search of villagers and fishermen to kidnap and deliver to the buyers.

Chinese who were tempted to gamble and lost more than they could pay back were often forced to surrender their person to the buyers to pay off their debts.

The coolies were herded into barracoons called "pig-pens" and sold in batches to the ships that came calling for them, mainly to Swatow that was beyond the reach of the authorities at Hong Kong, where the coolie trade was banned in 1854.

Aboard each arriving ship, tiers of sleeping shelves were hastily built throughout the two lower decks, and iron gratings put over the hatchways. On the spar deck a barricade was built where an armed guard was posted to ensure that the coolies remained below.

The coolies were rowed out to the ship in sampans and herded aboard the ship like cattle and stowed in the lower decks by the hundreds. Along with food supplies of rice, vegetables, beef, and pork to feed them over the course of their miserable voyage to distant lands. For those unfortunate coolies bound for the Chinchas Islands of Peru, their nightmare was just beginning.

The working and living conditions that the coolies were forced to endure upon arrival were absolutely deplorable. Housing was little more than cane huts. They were underfed and wore only rags.

In the Chinchas, the coolies would live out short miserable lives working seven days a week to the point of exhaustion from sunrise to sunset. All the time under the watchful eyes of brutal overseers, digging guano that had been deposited by sea birds over the centuries, and moving the guano by wheel barrows to the edges of rocky cliffs with thick bandages around the noses and mouths, and dump their loads into the long canvas chutes that ran down to the sea.

The ships waited below right at the cliff edge, where the water ran deep, to take their turn as the guano came thundering down the chutes to fill their holds, often taking a day or two to do so. All the while under a yellow cloud of vile ammonia-scented dust.

Most of the time a vast fleet numbering well over 100 vessels anchored nearby sometimes waiting for months to take their place at the chutes.

The scene was described by an American passenger as: ". . . a hell on earth," and went on to describe some of the clipper ships he saw "with their yards cock-billed, and rolling their royal masts almost against the face of the rock, all covered with guano, you would hardly recognize some of the finest clippers, that before they left New York and Boston were praised in the papers, visited by ladies, and, instead of guano, had their cabins perfumed by champagne."

Among the many clippers that had taken their places at the chutes in 1853 and 1854, were: the Witchcraft, Flying Eagle, Hornet, Radiant, Sirocco, and the Empress of the Seas. Even McKay clippers were forced into this ignominious trade.

Captains found the guano trade a most degrading experience, but still, hundreds of ships came for cargoes of guano from all over the world.

In order to ease the boredom from all the forced idleness in waiting around for months to take their turn at the chutes, various activities took place to pass the time. Balls were organized and there were regattas and picnics, as well as boating excursions to the nearby Peruvian coast.

Ship captains often resorted to bribery in their desperate efforts to get to the chutes ahead of the crowd, and this often led to ill feelings among the waiting ships, and tempers flared from time to time. Every sailor aboard every ship eagerly looked forward to the day when, at last, the foul cargo of guano was aboard ship and the holds were sealed and they could hoist their flag and get under way.

The crews from all the other ships anchored nearby would give the departing ship a resounding three cheers as the departing ship, with her masts and decks all caked with yellow guano dust, thankfully made her departure for Cape Horn. Most anxious to greet the rainy storms off the Cape and Patagonia to wash the ship clean again. But the memories of the deplorable conditions that the coolies slaved under could not be washed away so easily, especially after the day in 1856 when 342 coolies joined hands and quietly walked into the ocean and drowned themselves.

Coolies were also transported to Australia and Cuba as well as the Chinchas. For many years the British had engaged in this unsavory trade, until the coolie trade to the Chinchas Islands was officially banned by British authorities at Hong Kong in 1854, but the coolie trade continued aboard British ships from Chinese ports beyond the reach of British authorities. With the commercial depression, came more and more American clippers that competed with British ships for a share of this deplorable but highly profitable trade. But soon stories of floggings, suicides, and mutinies aboard coolie ships were making their way through the seaports of the world.

Public opinion was aroused with the reports of an incident concerning numerous floggings aboard the Winged Racer over the course of a voyage in 1855-56 as the Winged Racer and the Westward Ho were transporting 1500 coolies to the Chinchas. When the public learned about the deplorable conditions aboard these and other clippers and the horrendous fate that awaited the coolies when they arrived in the Chinchas, the United States and other countries in 1857 banned their ships from flying their flags and engaging in the coolie trade with Peru. Peru then simply bought the clippers and entered into the trade.

Still, American clippers continued to transport coolies like cattle to Australia and Cuba, and the floggings, suicides, and mutinies that were often brutally suppressed, continued, and diseases often took a heavy toll as well, particularly dysentery.

There was trouble aboard the Winged Racer around the time of her sailing on December 14, 1855, the threat of a mutiny. Captain Gorham had sixty coolies flogged one morning and reports of this incident swiftly made their way back to Boston and the scandal received much attention in the press.

Boston merchants, Sampson & Tappan, whose fleet of clippers included the Winged Racer and the Westward Ho, sent their agent out to investigate the coolie trade situation earlier in 1854.

The agent reported back that he considered the coolie trade to be perfectly legitimate if conducted properly, but it rarely was. Nevertheless, Sampson & Tappan stated following the press reports, that they had by that time informed the captains of their ships that they were forbidden to transport coolies to the Chinchas Islands. But in apparent disregard to their company regulations, the Westward Ho and the Winged Racer sailed with 1500 coolies aboard for Callao.

There was no coolie trouble aboard the Westward Ho and Captain Hussey delivered them at the Chinchas Islands on February 4, 1856. The Winged Racer arrived at Callao on March 19, 1856, delivered her human cargo, and joined the Westward Ho and the other ships anchored about the harbor to wait for their turn at the guano chutes.

It was not until June 12th, that the Westward Ho was able to secure her cargo of guano and sail for New York. The Winged Racer sailed to Baltimore in 94 days. Upon the return passage of the Westward Ho and Winged Racer, Sampson & Tappan got out of the coolie trade.

The Westward Ho sailed from New York on her fourth voyage around Cape Horn on December 16, 1856, and Captain Hussey brought her through the Golden Gate on March 26, 1857, with a port to port passage of 100 days. On this voyage, she ran from New York to the equator in 20 days, crossed the equator in the Pacific 81 days out, and from there was 19 days to San Francisco. The Westward Ho beat all the other clippers sailing from Eastern ports around the same time: the John Milton, Wild Rover, Reporter, and Webfoot.

By then, the commercial depression was taking a heavy toll with the glut of clippers and competition driving down freight rates, and Captain Hussey was unable to obtain a legitimate cargo at San Francisco for a homeward passage. Captain Hussey gave up his command of the Westward Ho, turning her over to Captain Jones who sailed her to Callao, where he sold her to Don Juan de Ugarte of Lima, Peru at a fair price. Her new owner engaged the Westward Ho in the coolie trade and did not change her name, but Callao became her hailing port as she now sailed under the Peruvian flag.

The Westward Ho's first run from Callao under Peruvian ownership was to Hong Kong and she left her new port of hail on October 13, 1857, and arrived at her destination 61 days later, where Chinese coolies were loaded aboard for a passage to Havana. The Westward Ho then returned to Callao, and for the next six years she made many fast runs between Peru and China. On February 27, 1864, while moored at Callao, the Westward Ho caught fire and sank in the harbor.

The coolie trade continued until 1870, and it is estimated that over those twenty-three years from 1847 to 1870, over a million coolies, including those who died over the voyages, were shipped out of China this way; 200,000 coolies to the guano hell Chinchas Islands off the coast of Peru.

Chinese living in California late in the 1850's drew up a "Remonstrance" to petition the United States Congress with concerning the abuses that their people had suffered and were suffering still as the coolie traffic went on unabated, but by then the most deplorable Peruvian traffic was aboard Peruvian ships.

In their Remonstrance the Chinese also presented their grievances concerning the discrimination they had suffered under provincial state legislation in California, but Congress just ignored the document and the detestable coolie trade went on for many years.

Next: Mary Ann Patten

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