Roxbury, January 12th, 1846.

My dear little Grandson,

In fulfillment of my promise, I now continue my story -- The necessary repairs to the ship now occupied the officers and crew, while the Capt. and supercargo were at Canton purchasing and getting ready the cargo -- To me everything was strange, exciting and interesting, the numerous ships in the river, like ourselves, doing the necessary repairs and making ready to take on board their cargoes; boats passing and repassing; the uncouth, queer looking Chinese vessels called Junks, going up and down the river, the numerous boats of all sizes, in which whole families reside, most of them extremely poor, and in many cases, subsisting on what they can pick up in the river, or obtain from the foreign ships; the meanest offal appeared to be a luxury to these poor creatures -- One old woman, I can well remember, used to frequently come alongside our ship, in a small boat, about fifteen feet long, in which she lived alone; a small covering of mats in one end of the boat, served her for a shelter from the weather, a small portable furnace, for cooking, what little she had to cook, and a mat fastened around her for clothing. Yet with all her abject poverty, she appeared contented and happy. She showed her gratitude for what was given her, by taking off her large bamboo hat, swinging it around her head, sailor-fashion, and giving three hearty cheers –

Before we could be permitted to take on board cargo, the ship had to be measured, by the officers appointed for the purpose, in order to ascertain the amount of port charges to be charged the ship. The Mandarines, for this purpose, I will endeavor to give you a description of - Everything of this kind, you must know, is done with great pomp and ceremony. On the morning that this took place, the officers being in the cabin taking their breakfast, the Boatswain at this time having charge of the deck, (who, by the bye, was an Irishman, and had the queer way of speaking peculiar to the Irish, which you know is often very amusing) appeared at the Cabin door, and calling the Mate by name, requested him to come on deck as soon as possible, for the "Archbishop of Canterbury" was coming alongside; this proved to be the Junk, or Craft, on board which, were the dignitaries that were to measure the ship; it now became necessary while she was approaching the ship, for a boat to be despatched, with an officer, to go on board and receive them with becoming attention, this was accordingly done, after which the Junk came alongside, the Mandarines came on board, partook of some refreshment, and measured the ship; the whole ceremony occupied about an hour, after which they took their departure -- This ceremony taken all together, was quite an imposing sight to me, the Junk was gorgeously decorated and the Mandarines in high dress,With a peculiar kind of cap, denoting their rank -- We had a number of monkeys on board that the sailors bought in Malacca, they afforded a great deal of amusement, but were very mischievous, one of them, in particular, used to annoy me very much, by getting slyly into the cabin, and stealing any little thing, that could be carried off -- One day he stole the second Mate's inkstand, took it on deck, and dropped it over board, for this, Poor Joes's last trespass he had to suffer the severest penalty, for the second mate in his rage, showed no mercy, but took the poor monkey by the hind legs knocked out his brains upon one of the great guns, and threw him overboard, his body was soon taken up by a poor Chinaman, and no doubt served his family with a hearty meal. This, to be sure, was a hard fate for so light a trespass. I could tell you many more amusing stories about monkeys, these "pets" of sailors, but this one must suffice, as I have, you know a very long story to tell, and time is precious --

On Sundays, the crew were allowed to go on shore for recreation, upon an Island in the river, Called "French Island"; on this island, there was a small chinese town; as sailors are always fond of fun and frolic, they used to annoy the Chinese with their visits into their town, which was forbidden, consequently quarrels between the sailors and Chinamen, were very frequent and often attended with broken heads - One Sunday in particular, a quarrel took place, that I have a vivid recolection [sic] of; our ship lay near and in full view of the island, I was looking towards the shore, when I saw tumbling down the hills a number of sailors, pursued by a great number of Chinamen, with clubs and other missils [sic]: their only chance for escape, was to run into the water, which they did, when the boats from the ships, went to their relief, and rescued them from their impending fate, some badly beaten, and some nearly drowned, and covered with mud - in consequence of this affray, which was provoked, by the sailors trespassing on the rights of the Chinamen, the Government made a serious matter of it, and put severe restrictions on all foreigners that visited the island --

Our ship being now nearly loaded, the time arrived when the crew, half at a time, were allowed the privilege of going to Canton to pass a few days for recreation, and to buy such things as they stood in need of, accordingly, on the day appointed, that part that were first to enjoy the privilege dressed in their Sunday clothes, left the ship in high glee, in the ship's barge, and proceeded on their way to the city of Canton, giving three hearty cheers, as they left the ship, which was returned by those that remained on board - After the return of this part of the crew to the ship, the other part took their turn, and I was allowed to make one of their number, and a happier set of fellows than we were, at that time never stood between stem and stern, of any ship --

On our arrival in Canton, we all went to the "Factory", this was a building occupied by the Captain and supercargo, as a place to dwell in, and: to receive and pack, the articles comprising our cargo, consisting of teas of different kinds, silks, nankeens, cassia, chinaware, laquered ware &c. &C. - We were regaled with the best the Factory afforded, more sumptious [sic] fare, than we had met with since we left home, and after satisfying our hunger, sallied out to take a look of the place; inside of the gates of the city, you must know, none but natives, of what they term the "“Celestial Empire", are allowed to enter, so we were obliged to confine our rambles to the suburbs of the city; here, a great deal was to be seen to amuse the eye and please the fancy, especially of a novice like myself; to give a dilated account of all i saw would take more time than I can afford -

As my stay was to be short in Canton, I thought best to devote to business, the most of my time. My Grandfather gave me twenty five Spanish dollars, as an adventure, to which I added three months' wages, which had been paid me, making fifteen dollars more, making together forty dollars; this was to be invested in something that would Pay a profit, and I visited the shops, and finally decided in laying my money out principaly in Ladies' Parasols, and silk handkerchiefs, a few small articles, as presents for my sisters, one of which was a teaset of china, for my sister Amelia, marked with her initials, (A.B.S.); the same is now in the possession of your Aunt Amelia, with every piece nearly perfect, although it is now forty six years since I bought it -- Having finished my purchases and being fearful of exposing myself to the smallpox that prevailed to a great extent in Canton, at that time, the day following, I returned to the ship, and did not visit the city again. The time now began to draw nigh, when we were to sail for home, the thoughts of which, gave me more true delight, than anything I had seen, or heard, since I left it. And now the time of taking leave of the "Celestials" has arrived, and the ship is moving slowly down the river; the washwomen are receiving their pay, from the crew, and in return for the kindness they have received from the ship, making presents of oranges, sweetmeats &c., they no doubt felt deep regret at parting with the ship, it being the source, from which many of them, had drawn their chief sustinance [sic], during the time she remained in Wampoo --

On our way down to Macoa, we had a violent gale, during which we parted a cable, and lost our small bower anchor, we let go the best power, which brought her up, and she rode out the gale; the loss of the anchor, was serious one, as we now had to make our way along through the China seas, and straits, with only one anchor, on account of which, we were afterwards put to great inconvenience, and came very near losing the ship and all our lives. It was now the month of November, the monsoon that then prevailed was from the N.E., a fair wind down the China sea; our Capt. being determined to return through the same Straits that we came, we made the best of our way down the China Sea, through the Straits of Singapore, into the Straits of Malacca, where we arrived after a pretty fair passage, during which, nothing very material occured [sic] -- It being necessary to fill up our water, and obtain some supplies, we stopped at the port of Malacca for that purpose. Shortly after we came to anchor there, an English Man of war entered the harbour, she proved to be the Diomede, 50 gun ship; they sent their boat with an officer on board of us, and very imperiously ordered our Captain to go on board the man of war with his papers, this he was of course obliged to do, as we had not force enough to resist the orders of a fifty gun ship, our Captain was treated with a great deal of indignity, and contempt,(as Americans were generally treated by the English in those days, they show more respect now, since the great number of naval victories gained over them during our last war) - but finding our papers all clear and in order, was compelled to let us pass unmolested, with the exception of depriving us of one of our best men,(a Frenchman), and encumbering us with a sick Italian in his stead, this we all regretted very much, as the Capt. of the man of war, said he intended to make him a prisoner of war, and probably did; he was a kind hearted, good sailor, I never heard of him afterwards, and have little doubt he ended his days in an English prison - Now having finished watering é&c., we left Malacca and made the best of our way through the Straits, in company with the ship Ariel of Philadelphia; this ship left Whampoo in company with us, and by agreement we were to keep company, until safe through the Straits, she was a dull sailor; we had an opportunity a short time after leaving Malacca, of parting company under the circumstances of the deepest peril to our ship and all on board -- Our Chart of the Straits being imperfect, we were in the habit of keeping a boat ahead of the ship, with lead and line, to sound the passage, when we were apprehensive of danger. At the time alluded to, we were sounding our way through a dangerous part of the straits, called the sand heads, and having got about half way through, night coming on, we came to Anchor; at this time there was but little wind, and our ship appeared to be riding in perfect safety - The ship Ariel came to anchor also not a great distance from us. At about twelve o'clock midnight, we were aroused by the shrill whistle and hoarse voice of the Boatswain, calling all hands, to prepare for a heavy squall that was threatening to break upon us - All mustered up as quickly as possible, but before all had time to get on deck, the squall struck us with so much violence, that our cable parted, leaving us in most imminent danger; surrounded as we were by shoals, With no other anchor to let go, (having as you will recollect lost our small bower anchor shortly after leaving Whampoo). We felt, as you may imagine in the greatest danger, there was no alternative, however, to run through the shoals, and trust to a kind Providence to direct our way. After parting our cable we drifted within hailing distance of the ship Ariel, she was riding out the gale with both anchors down. We passed her so rapidly, that we only had time to say, we should return to Malacca. The terrors of that dreadful night, I shall never forget, they are most indelibly impressed upon my mind. My gratitude to God, for the light of the blessed morning, that succeeded that night of anguish, is still more firmly fixed upon my mind, never, I trust to be effaced -- The storm was not long; we passed the shoals, the morning was bright and clear, and we made the best of our way back to Malacca, where we arrived a few days afterwards; our object in returning to Malacca was, to procure an anchor, the only anchor we had left was a small light stream anchor, to this we lashed one of our great guns to increase the weight; with this we brought the ship to anchor in Malacca. Soon after we arrived, the Capt. went on shore to procure an anchor; he was unable however, to find one suitable and was compelled to take a large old dutch anchor, entirely out of proportion for our ship; having got our anchor on board, and procured some further supplies, of fruit, vegetables, &c., we weighed anchor and once more set sail for home. We passed slowly down the straits, the winds being light, and often ahead, went once more in safety through the sand heads, and were nearly clear of the land altogether, when one day we saw a ship standing towards us, on the opposite tack, we soon made her out to be the Ariel, our old consort; when we had come nearly within hail, the course of our ship was altered, evidently to avoid coming within speaking distance, the only words that I recollect hearing said, were from the Ariel, and those words were, "what's all that for", rather a cold way I  thought, of meeting and parting with an old friend, on the part of our Capt.  yet the difference of the two ships' sailing, was so great, that our Capt. was not much to blame for wishing to part company, but he might have parted in a more courteous manner -- The Ariel had a very long passage, up with the West India Islands, where she was captured by a French Privateer, carried into one of the French Islands, and condemned, but afterwards paid for to our Government, by the French under treaty, as were many other captures of a similar nature, this was in the year 1800, yet to this day, our Government have delayed, or refused, to pay the individuals their claims, which are so justly due; this is a stain upon the character of our Government, that can never be entirely removed; partial justice may possible be done, to the heirs of the sufferers,. but most, of the sufferers themselves, have long since been removed from this, to a far better country, "from whence no traveller returns”. - We now made our way along, towards home, but owing to calms, our progress was slow, and it became evident we were to have a very long passage –

I commenced keeping a journal, or the "ship's way", as it is termed; this I succeeded in, remarkably well, and it was a source of amusement & satisfaction to me; I began my journal, immediately after leaving Whampoo, & continued it until we arrived in Boston; I preserved it for many years, but it is now lost; if I could have recourse to it, I should be reminded of many incidents that have escaped my memory - Our crew were a good, hearty jovial set of fellows, many of them were remarkably good singers, and one played well upon the flute, so we managed occasionally to get up a pretty good concert -- I found enough to employ myself about, taking care of the cabin, going aloft, learning seamanship, washing & mending my clothes, &c. &cC., these duties served to while away the time, which not-withstanding, towards the last of the voyage, began to be very tedious --

Our fresh provisions were nearly all gone, that is, our stock of pigs & fowls, Our vegetables were quite exhausted, Our bread was bad, & full of vermin, our beef and pork hardly fit to Cat, and many of our crew attacked with the scurvey [sic], a distressing disease incident to long voyages, and bad unwholesome fare -- We had now been about five months on our passage, had passed the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena, the two best places for a ship to stop at, returning from India.- Our present exigencies made it necessary to select some place to stop at, to procure a supply of vegetables and water; our Captain accordingly decided upon touching at an Island, called Ferdinand Norona; for that purpose, towards which we now most anxiously directed our course-- Our list of sufferers by the scurvey [sic], kept dally creasing, and a general depression of spirits prevailed throughout the ship, when the man on the lookout, at the masthead, proclaimed the cheering sound of "land ho"! all on board now seemed animated, with new life; to the sick, relief was at hand, and to those that were Oppressed with the fear of being attacked, with the dire disease, hope and comfort were restored --

Ferdinand Norona was the Island, we were now fast approaching, some description of which, may be proper before proceeding any further --

The Island is not very large; its extent, I am not now able to give; it belonged at that time to the Government of Portugal, and does still, Ibelieve; its appearance was that of an island formed by a volcanic eruption it presents a very curious appearance, when approaching it, making a great number of sharp conical forms, resembling large loaves of sugar -- A Governor and small Garrison are stationed there, to take care of about 200 male convicts, or malefactors; at the time of our visit, it was said, there Was not a woman on the island, and never had been; none being allowed to live there -- The Governor however, was extremely tenacious of his dignity, notwithstanding his subjects were all vagabonds -- There being no good harbour, it is very hazardous landing upon the island, with a boat, on account of the serf [sic] -- Having now approached within a suitable distance of the village, the ship was brought to an anchor, and the boat got in readiness for visiting the shore, our Captain not caring to go on shore himself, very unwisely sent the Mate, this was taken in high dudgeon by his "Excellency the Governor," in consequence of which, the Mate and boat's crew were very inhospitably received, and, at this time only succeeded in procuring some greens, consisting of parsley that grows rank and wild upon the island.

The Governor would not suffer the boat to return to the ship without leaving one man on the shore as a hostage; consequently the Mate returned, (leaving a man on shore), with an order from the Governor for the Captain to come on shore, this however he would not do, and the day following the Governor's barge, With some of the dignitaries of the Island, came on board; our Captain made them some small presents, and they gave permission for us to take our water casks on shore and fill them, and to procure such refreshments as the Island afforded, and we stood in need of; we now concluded all was going on well; our boat was again arranged, with water casks &c. and despatched for the shore; there was only one place for filling water, and that was a very small stream, consequently the process of filling water was attended with great delay, however we succeeded in filling two or three casks, and procured some more greens, and being now ready to return to the ship, one of the boat's crew was again forcibly detained on shore, and the boat came on board without him; this treatment from a vagabond Governor, was extremely exasperating, our Captain now determined to send the boat once more on shore, with orders to the officer in the boat, on no account to leave a man on shore, but to procure such things as were procurable, and return to the ship without delay -- This was accomplished in the following manner; the second mate had charge of the boat, and when he was ready to return to the ship, went to the beach where the boat was lying, under guard of a file of soldiers, for the purpose of retaining one man on shore; the boat was placed stem on to the shore, the men were all ordered into her, the mate taking his station at the stem, apparently for the purpose of shoving her off; the soldiers stood looking on, not dreaming that the Mate intended to leave with the boat; at about this time, there came in a heavy roll of the serf, on the receding of which, he gave the boat a shove, sprang in himself, the boat's crew gave way smartly at the oars, and before the lazy soldiers had recovered from their consternation were out of their reach, and very soon on board, I believe that the soldiers fired, but without effect -- We immediately got under way and took our departure from this inhospitable Island, leaving a number of our empty water-casks on shore -- The parsley we procured, was of great benefit to everyone on board, more particularly to those afflicted with the scurvey [sic], and I have no doubt was the means of saving the lives of many of the crew -- of other refreshments, we obtained put few, I consider this Island a miserable place for a ship to stop at -- There was only one boat belonging to the Island, and that was the Governor's barge; the poor convicts were allowed to go fishing upon what are called "Cattimerans"; these are made with three logs of wood, fastened together, with boards nailed across them; on these miserable things, the poor creatures venture out several miles from the Island.

We were now making good progress towards home, but the horrid disease, with which our crew was afflicted was not subdued, its ravages were restrained, by the refreshment we procured, but many of our crew were in a very bad state, and daily growing worse - a sail heaves in sight - we board her, she proves to be from Lisbon with lemons and oranges, we procure some, they are very grateful, and highly beneficial, to the poor sufferers -  they are cheered and lifted up, with the hope of yet reaching the land, and being cured of the malady, that cannot be cured at sea  - some days more pass, we are fast nearing the coast. A schooner appears in sight,- we send the boat on board, she is from Grand bank, bound to Marblehead, we procured from her some fish, some flour and some potatoes, good things for our invalids, in return gave the fisherman some tea, sugar, coffee, &c. We have now been nearly six months on our passage from Whampoo, and hail with joy every breeze, that wafts us towards home; and bitterly deplore the too frequent returns of adverse winds, which in the deseased [sic] and excited state of our crew, produces hopeless despondency, in some, We have however, yet men enough in health to navigate the ship and take care of the sick --

It is now the latter part of the month of April, and a good bright morning, the ship running with a fair wind towards the coast, all eyes anxiously looking for the land, when a cheering sound is heard, from the Lop gallant yard, proclaiming, "land ho"!! This proved to be Pigeon Hill, on Cape Ann, the northern cape of Boston Bay; in a few hours after seeing land, we procured a pilot, and before night, the ship was anchored in safety, in Nantasket Roads --- Thus ends my second letter, if health permits, my story shall be continued --

Your affectionate Grandfather,

E.S.