P.
181: “Charlestown, the first place I visited, is
contiguous to Boston,
and connected with it by means of two long bridges. It is a small town of
little note, distinguished only as being one of the naval stations of the United States.
One of the officers belonging to this service, remarkable for his politeness,
accompanied me on my visit to view the station. It is far from being completed:
even the plan of the proposed basin was very little advanced; but workmen were
actively employed in constructing and widening the place. Among the finished
parts may be
p.
182: mentioned the residence of the commodore, the barracks, stores, and
forges. A spacious dock, without exception the finest and largest in the United States, was then being constructed when I
visited Charlestown
the first time. Before I left the States, this stupendous work was already
completed. The dock, built of granite, is finished in a style that reflects the
greatest credit on the builder ; it is two hundred and ten feet in length, and
roomy enough for the largest battle ship. The water is pumped out by a
steam-engine. Two gates, of which one is floating, arrest the influx of the
sea. The stonework alone is stated to have consisted of no less than five
hundred thousand cubic feet. Several men-of-war, frigates, and sloops, were
lying there dismantled, and partly covered by houses or sheds erected for that
purpose. All the ships are built of live oak, or quercus sempervirens, which
grows in the Southern States. This building material is well known as being
particularly hard, compact, and durable, and, consequently well calculated for
the construction of ships. Among the vessels shown to me was one whose fame had
already reached my ears, and with which every one in America, old
p.
183: and young, is acquainted. This was the Constitution, a frigate of
forty-four guns. She is one of the oldest ships in the American navy, was built
in Boston, in
the year 1797, and has upon various occasions showed her prowess in combating
the English and the Tripolitans. Fortune has every where favoured her: not only
has she escaped from far superior enemies, but has been victorious in several
rencontres, capturing frigates, corvettes, and sloops of war, and carrying home
a number of prisoners. For these repeated deeds of valour, she was called by
the honourable name, “Old Ironside,” by which she is distinguished to this very
day. She is the pride and boast of Americans, particularly of the Bostonians,
with whom she is a darling object. Few men-of-war have done more than this
ship. Whenever Old Ironside proceeds to sea, all eyes are fixed upon her,
confident that she will give a good account of herself: on returning, she is
enthusiastically greeted by the whole nation.”
Source
Carl
David Arfwedson. The United States in 1832, 1833, and 1834, vol 1. London, 1834. Digitized
by Google.
