'Thank you, dad,' Jack replied; 'I'm not afraid of roughing it. There is no other calling I should like half so well.'
The captain expressed much satisfaction at the choice which his son had made, and, as the latter remained of the same opinion, the preliminary steps toward his sea apprenticeship were taken.
A few weeks later, on a certain beautiful morning in the month of February, a fine clipper ship, in tow of a tug, entered the harbour, and dropped her anchor nearly opposite the town.
She was named the 'Silver Crown,' was 'flying light' in ballast trim, two streaks of her muntz-metal sheathing being above the water line. She had come round from Liverpool to embark several hundreds of emigrants awaiting conveyance to Queensland, Australia.
She was of nearly eighteen hundred tons measurement, and presented a sufficiently striking appearance, since like a castle she towered above all other ships in port.
The fore, the main, and the mizen masts were lofty and squarely rigged, each of them carried double topsail yards, with single topgallant and royal yards above them.
The 'house' flag of the firm to which she belonged fluttered from the main royal masthead, British colours floated from the spanker gaff-end, and much brasswork shone about the stern.
KEY REFERENCE TO THE SAILS OF A SHIP
1 Flying jib
2 Outer jib
3 Inner jib
4 Fore topmast staysail
5 Foresail, or forecourse
6 Lower fore topsail
7 Upper "
8 Lower fore topgallant-sail
9 Upper "
10 Fore royal
11 Mainsail, or maincourse
12 Lower main topsail
13 Upper "
14 Lower main topgallant-sail
15 Upper "
16 Main royal
17 Main skysail
18 Cross-jack (brailed up)
19 Lower mizen topsail
20 Upper "
21 Mizen topgallant-sail
22 Mizen royal
23 Spanker, or driver
24 Main topmast staysail
25 Main topgallant staysail
26 Main royal staysail
27 Mizen topmast staysail
28 Mizen topgallant staysail
29 Fore topmast studding-sail, weather
30 Fore topmast studding-sail, lee
31 Fore topgallant studding-sail, weather
32 Fore topgallant studding-sail, lee
33 Main topmast studding-sail, lee
34 Main topgallant studding-sail, lee
35 Jib, inner, outer, and flying sheets
36 Fore sheet
37 Fore tack
38 Main sheet
39 Main tack
40 Main topmast staysail sheet
41 Mizen topmast staysail sheet
42 Spanker brails
43 Spanker sheet
44 Leech lines
45 Bunt lines
46 Gaskets
47 Reef-points