Page 62 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

48.
the weather, usually beginning with corrunents on prevailing

winds and even including specific calculations.

Generally the voyage settled into a routine which

most passengers described as "pleasant." Usually in the

morning they went on deck and spent the afternoon reading

and writing. As Harriet Low described this rigid pattern of

life: "I generally . . go up there as soon as breakfast is

over, saunter about awhile, see all there is to be seen, hear

the news of the day, find out how she heads, take a look at

the fowls and pigs, and then to my book." In the evening

insufficient lighting made reading difficult, so after a few

hands of cards or just conversation the passengers retired
3
early. Altogether there was little excitement, so small

events such as spotting dolphin or other fish aroused the

interest of all aboard. Sighting another set of sails was an

especially dramatic event. Every effort was made to hail the

vessel because the possibility of new faces or at least news

was overwhelmingly attractive to the isolated travelers.

Passengers even welcomed storms to break the monotony. Although

frightening at first, bad weather provided something to relate
4
to those back home. Even this diversion was rare, because

3
Diary of H. Low, Jun. 5 and Jun. 11, 1829, Low Family
MSS. The China Trade Postbag of the Seth Low Family of Salem
and New York, 1829-1873, ed. by Elma Loines (Manchester, Maine,
1953), p. 103.
4
Diary of H. Low, May 29, 1829, Low Family MSS. For an
amusing narration of experiencing a storm at sea, see a letter
written by John Murray Forbes to his wife Sarah in Reminiscences
of J. M. Forbes, ed. by Sarah Forbes Hughes (3 vols.; Boston,
1902), I _. 170.