New York,, Feb. 18, 1856
Dear President Taylor — Agreeably with your request, I present a brief outline of the voyage across the Atlantic, in the J. [John] J. Boyd.
We left Liverpool on Wednesday, Dec. 12th, 1855, at 7 a.m. and had a fine run down the channel, sighted Cape Clear on the Friday morning following, and had mild weather with a fair wind for three days after. During this time we had leisure to devise plans for the maintenance of order, and cleanliness during the voyage. Notwithstanding that our company consisted of Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Icelanders, Italians, English, Irish, and Scotch, the rules adopted proved efficacious in maintaining a strict "entent cordiale" among us all. The Saints were at the sound of trumpet called to prayer morning and evening. Meetings were also frequently held in the Danish, English, and Italian languages during the voyage. On the whole, we enjoyed ourselves first-rate, notwithstanding the many gales and hurricanes we experienced, from the breaking up of the fine weather, in about longitude 15 degrees, to our anchoring off Sandy Hook.
About midway on our passage, we fell in with the clipper ship "Louis Napoleon," from Baltimore to Liverpool, laden with flour, with all her masts and spars carried away, and leeward bulwarks stove in; upon nearing the ship we found her in a sinking condition. The captain and crew desired to be taken off, which was done. This acquisition was of great advantage to us, as the bad weather, sickness and exhaustion from overwork, had made quite a gap in our complement of sailors.
We had much sickness on board from the breaking out of the measles, which caused many deaths among the Danish, chiefly among the children. In the English and Italian companies we lost three children. The weather got worse after crossing the Banks, so much so, that we were driven into the Gulf Stream three times, and many of our sailors were frost-bitten. Our captain got superstitious on account of the long passage, and ordered that there should be no singing on board; the mate said that all the ships that had preachers on board were always sure of a bad passage; however, the Lord heard our prayers, and in his own due time we arrived at our destination. On the evening of the 15th of February we were safely at anchor — having been sixty-six days out from Liverpool.
Our supply of water was almost exhausted; we had on our arrival only about one day's water on board. The provisions were very good, and proved abundant to the last. On our taking the pilot on board he informed us that there had been many disasters during the months of January and February; many ships had been wrecked. We had made the passage without the loss of a single spar. Truly we can say that we have been blest, and that our long voyage has been an advantage to us in many ways.
Praying that we may be as blest during our sojourn on the land of the Saints as we have until the present time, I remain, yours respectively in the gospel,
C. R. Savage. [p.206]
BIB: Savage, C. [Charles] R. [Letter], Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star 18:13. (March 29, 1856), p. 206. (CHL)
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