AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR LEAVING BALLYCONNELL,
COUNTY CAVAN, AND THEIR VOYAGE TO NORTH
AMERICA IN 1846
(Reputedly this account was written by William Lawrence Kells
and some considerable time after the voyage.)
In the spring of the year 1846, owing to a threatened
famine, the disturbed state of the country, and the glowing
accounts from America, holding out bright prospects to
the emigrant, our family came to the determination to leave
our native land, and seek a new home in America.
Two of our relatives, Henry and Andrew Kells had
settled there years before, and many of our acquaintances
who had already gone, sent back encouraging letters.
All being ready, and the last sad parting with most of our
friends over, in the dim gray light of a March morning,
we left our native town. Some friends came with us to
Belturbet. Our party consisted of our parents, eight
children, my father's sister Jane and the eldest daughter
of Uncle Henry Kells, also called Jane, and a number
of relatives of our name, and several acquaintances from
the same vicinity.
Sancho, our pet bull dog, was secretly given to a friend
at a distance, but he took advantage of the first
opportunity to escape and return. My brother Richard,
on regaining possession of his pet, refused to part with
him, or even let him out of his sight.
The number of persons who took passage on board
was three hundred. The ship sailed slowly until she
got to the mouth of the Mersey, for the river from
shore to shore was a forest of masts. After
clearing the mouth of the river, our progress
became more rapid, and towards evening we
were far down the channel. The passengers
crowded upon the deck and gazed on the receding
shore as long as any trace of it was visible.
As night approached we descended to our berths
and next morning when we came on deck, no trace
of land was visible, but through the day the captain
informed the passengers that we were south of Cork
Harbor. The passengers, having little to attend to,
turned many a thought toward the land for which
they were bound. America was supposed to be
a most delightful country, where to obtain a
luxurious livelihood required but little labor,
and where gold and silver was so plentiful,
as to be of little value. Many were the day
dreams indulged in by the passengers regarding
their future homes, dreams which were never to
be realized by the majority of them.
After clearing the coast of Ireland, our vessel,
with expanded sails, nobly steered her westward
way across the Atlantic. Outside the ship
nothing was visible save the blue sky above,
and the foam crested waves below, which
in the dim distance seemed to mingle
their elements together.
We were constantly on the lookout for passing
ships. Sometimes, other vessels appeared
on the horizon, but seldom came within speaking
distance. On one occasion, towards night, nine
ships appeared on different parts of the horizon,
but in the morning, they had all disappeared.
On another occasion, a small hawk, doubtless
wearied with a long journey, lit on the top
of one of the masts and was shot by one
of the passengers. This was the only bird
that I remember to have seen on our long
voyage until we approached the shores of
America.
Encountering no storms and favoured with
easterly winds, at the end of a week we
were far out on the ocean. Many events
may have occurred to engage the attention
of elder persons, but of this period of our
voyage, I remember little. Once I recollect
seeing the head of a curious creature, which
I was told was a sea horse, appear above
the water for a few moments, but it soon
disappeared again beneath the waves.
On another occasion, a large dark creature
was seen as in a sportive mood, playing
with the waves and ejecting streams of
water from its head. Someone said it was
a whale, and after we gazed at it for a
short time it also disappeared.
Two rats were discovered on board, and
Sancho, our canine passenger, was called
upon to capture and destroy them, one of
these he caught and killed, but the other
jumped through a hole into the sea.
Sancho's instinct and sagacity displayed
itself in a wonderful manner while on board.
He would eat nothing that was not given
to him by some member of our family,
and became angry, whenever food was
offered to him by a stranger. He was,
however, usually good humored and
sportive, and eagerly joined in the plays
of the children on the deck, and was
however, the only quadruped on board,
so was a general favorite with the
passengers and crew. Once, however,
he bit one of the sailors who had vexed
him. This so enraged the tar that he
threatened to kill him, but did not carry
his threat into execution.
As the passengers had little to do except
cook their food, they often amused themselves
by telling old country stories or discussing
their future prospects in America. Some
were going to their friends, who were already
settled there. Others would be total strangers
in a strange land, and they often wondered if
America was anything like the land they had
left, but all had hopes and anticipated fortunes
which in most cases, they were never to realize.
There were some passengers on board who
had not brought with them sufficient (sic) provisions
for the voyage, and were therefore depending on the
charity of their fellow voyagers, while some
supplied their wants by nocturnal acts of theft.
There was one German family on board, which, as
they understood little of the English language, were
often the victims of practical jokes. That any services
were performed on the Sunday more than any other
day, I do not remember. I have reason to think,
however, that there was not, at least by the
majority of those on board.
Often I and other children would amuse ourselves
by playing hide and seek on the deck, and I do
not know that the captain or any of the sailors
except one, ever interfered with any of our
amusements. The exception was an old,
sea-roving, weather-beaten tar, who from the
appearance of his gray eyes, and weathered
visage, we nicknamed "the owl". Generally,
in the midst of our gambols he made his
appearance, and his savage aspect was always
sufficient to drive us from the deck, into the
cabins below.
There was one little boy that often joined in
our play, who, though he was three or
four years old had not been weaned, from
which circumstances we called him
"Suck-a-Diddy", and although on this
account the other children often laughed at
and made fun of him, yet I never
remembered to have seen him get angry,
but on the contrary seemed to enjoy it as
a good joke. The last time that I saw him,
he was sitting beside his parents on the
green sloping bank of the river, when we
landed at Montreal.
One day, two boys were wrestling upon
the deck, one of them was of the name of
Farley, the other from the color of his hair
was called "red-head". The latter, getting
the worst of the contest, took up Farley's
cap and threw it into the sea, for this he
was punished by an older brother of Farley
and driven from the deck. The next day,
the two boys engaged in another wrestling
contest, when a younger brother of Farley
seized the "red-head's" cap and threw it
overboard.
At this "red-head" mounted the side of the
ship, caught hold of the ropes, and made a
motion as though he was about to jump into
the ocean, but a moment's hesitation showed
him the danger to which he was about to
expose himself and the impossibility of
regaining his cap, which, owing to the
speed of the vessel, was soon far behind
the ship. He therefore returned to the
deck amid the laughter of his companions,
angry and burning for revenge, but some
of the older people seeing the evil that
was likely to result, interfered and put an
end to all wrestling altogether on the deck.
On one occasion, a little boy, whose name
I do not now remember, was lying on the
deck looking down the hatchway when
two cousins who bore our family name,
Herbert and Thomas, came behind him
and "just for fun" threw him down on the
second deck; the boy was nearly killed,
and though the others were punished by
their father for their thoughtless cruelty,
the injury done their victim could not
be remedied for the poor boy falling
on his hands had all his fingers broken
and was crippled for life.
There were some cases of sickness on
board and three persons died during the
voyage. I was present on deck when the
corpse of one, an infant, was committed
to the waves, amid the lamentations of its
mother.
When about midway on the ocean we
encountered a dreadful storm. The ship
was tossed about with such violence by
the wind and waves that during the first night
of its continuance, most of the berths on the
side which we occupied, were thrown down.
Those in the lower berths were in danger of
being suffocated or crushed to death by the
bedding, and weight of those in the upper tiers,
as men, women and children mingled in one
common mass, rudely awakened from their slumbers
and involved in the midnight darkness, surrounded on
all sides by the mingling cries of terror and distress, and
almost deafened by the roaring sound of the tempest
without and jostled about by the plunging of the
storm tossed vessel. Imagination can scarcely depict a
scene more awful, more especially, as it was feared every
dash of the ship would be the last, and that all were
about to be sunk into a common grave beneath the ocean.
Lights, however, were soon procured and order partially
restored, and with the return of day, the terror of the
passengers somewhat abated, and with the assistance of the
ship carpenter, the berths were again placed in position, but
there was little abatement in the fury of the storm, for our
vessel a mere speck on the bosom of the deep was driven
along before the tempest, wave after wave rolling along
one after another, threatening every moment to engulf it
with all on board. Few dared to mount the ladder to the
deck, for they were in danger of being thrown overboard
into the raging sea. No fire could be kindled or food cooked,
for if any person dared to light a fire it would have been
extinguished by the waves that swept the deck. No fresh
water could be procured for the rolling motion of the ship
rendered this out of the question. The passengers confined
to their berths had, therefore, to do with such food and
water as they had provided before the storm began.
Everything movable was rolled, or dashed about from
one side of the ship to the other in the wildest confusion.
The ship, itself, was sometimes lifted up on the crest of a
wave, and then plunged down into the abyss, filling the
hearts of the passengers, unaccustomed to such scenes
with continuous terror and some began to loudly lament
that they ever left their native land. America, they said,
might possess all the advantages and hold out all the
bright prospects so eagerly sought by the half-famished
emigrant, but what were all these to them when they
would soon be sunk beneath the waters of the ocean,
their fate unknown, and their names forgotten.
When the storm had ceased it was so far driven from
her right course that it would take many days to regain
the distance that was lost. After this we often met with
adverse winds, and for some days at a time made little
progress on our voyage. Once I remember seeing a ship
on her eastward voyage, gliding past us rapidly, while
our vessel, with her canvass rolled down, on account of
head winds lay rocking on the waves.
We were also sometimes involved in thick mists
which rendered navigation uncertain and dangerous,
and these fogs or mists became more dense and
frequent as we passed the Gulf Stream, and neared
the fishing banks of Newfoundland.
Early one morning towards the end of May, after we
had entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, during a dense fog,
our ship ran against a rock, and I have heard it said that
for the noble and heroic conduct of the sailors, by the
violence of the shock, the ship might have been dashed
to pieces and all on board consigned to a watery grave.
The Captain having been up late the night before had
not yet risen but was still asleep, when the shock of
the vessel as she grated on the rock, and the screams
of the passengers woke him. The few passengers who
had already risen, ran upon the deck, and as they did
so caught a glimpse through the mist of the phantom
outline of the dark rock, as the ship shook and trembled.
Most of the passengers, like the Captain, were still
slumbering unconscious of danger when they were
violently awakened by the shock of the vessel, and
as soon as the cause of alarm was announced a
scene of the wildest confusion ensued. Women and
children screamed and cried, men shouted while
terror was pictured on every face. Men half dressed
rushed up on the deck, followed by women in their
night dresses or with some bed clothing thrown around
them, screaming, praying, and imploring the Captain to
save them. The sailors were soon at their posts, the
anchor was cast the sails were rolled up and the
Captain with some others hastened below to ascertain
what damage the ship had sustained in her collision
with the rock. There it was found that a large hole
was torn in the side of the vessel, into which the
water was rushing rapidly, and notwithstanding that,
immediate and persistent efforts were made to close
the breach, the water still came in and the pumps
which from the first were resorted to, had to be
continually kept at work, both day and night,
alternately by the passengers and crew, until
we arrived in harbor of Quebec, where as we
afterwards hear, the vessel foundered.
I think that we remained at anchor the remainder
of the day, at least sailed slowly waiting the arrival
of the pilot who it was said ought to have been on
board the day before. The next day was calm
and clear and towards noon, far away on the horizon,
two dark objects were observed moving on the waves
and evidently approaching our direction. It was
soon discovered that these moving objects were
boats and in a short time they were alongside our
ship and from one of them the pilot, a medium sized,
tawny Canadian, came on board.
The Captain advanced to meet him, shook his hand and
led him to his cabin where they remained sometime in
close conversation. During the remainder of the voyage,
the pilot passed the most of the time on the top of the
cabin taking frequent observations with his glasses in a
western direction. A few days after this, early in
the morning we were awakened by the gladsome tidings
that land was in view. As soon as I was dressed, among
many others I came upon deck where the greater part
of the voyagers had already assembled. Away towards
the west every eye was gazing, for there like a dark cloud
on the horizon was seen the shore of America. Throughout
the day we were constantly on the deck, for the air was
calm and pleasant and the scene delightful and various
kinds of fishes were seen in shoals with their heads and
parts of their bodies above the water, while numbers
of sea birds hovered around the ship, or skimmed along
the surface of the undulating waves, and other ships
were constantly passing us by, going out to sea.
We were fast approaching the land, which seemed
to be rising out of the water. As our ship progressed
forward and the hearts of all on board were joyful
at the prospect of soon landing in The New World.
Towards evening land became visible on both sides
of the ship, and we were told that we had entered
and were now sailing up the St. Lawrence. On the
north shore there was pointed out the hull of a
vessel that we were told was the wreck of the Highland
Mary. As we still progressed up the river, we had a
pleasing prospect of the shores which seemed to be
covered with woods now assuming the garb of summer.
Still ascending the river when the shades of evening closed
around us, and the next morning when I came upon deck
I saw that the ship had cast anchor close by the shore
of a beautiful little island, which I heard was called the
Quarantine, or Grosse Isle. Here several sick persons
were sent ashore to a hospital for which this island is
noted. Here also the ship was cleaned and many articles
of clothing, boxes, barrels, etc., were cast into the river.
As we resumed our voyage many tin roofed cottages
and farm buildings, as well as people and domestic
animals were noticed along the shore, and at one place
a large waterfall, like a sheet of white foam, dashing
wildly down a steep precipice attracted general attention.
Towards evening the outlines of a large city, built
partly on high rocks, and partly along the shore, came
in view, and in a short time among many other ships and
a few steamers, our vessel cast anchor in the harbor of
Quebec. It was now Saturday night and we remained
on board the Princess Alice until Monday morning
when a small tug boat conveyed us to the shore, after
a voyage of seven weeks and three days. There we
saw many things that filled us with wonder, but nothing
more so than the dark people who spoke a strange language,
and here for the first time we heard our half pennies called
'coppers'.
