Robert Bennet Forbes (1804-1889), the man who built the
Forbes House (Museum) in Milton, Massachusetts, spent a number of years as a China trader in the service of
Perkins and Sons and Russell and Company. He undertook four voyages to and from
the imperial kingdom, the first as a cabin boy at the age of 13 and the last in
the years 1849-51 when he was in his late forties. In this essay, we'll look at one notable voyage home through his eyes and words.
Painting of the Niantic
at Whampoa Anchorage, China, circa 1840. The painting is on display at the San
Francisco Maritime Museum; Whampoa, now called Pazhou, is recognizable by the
Whampoa Pagoda in the background, left. The ship was likely painted into a
pre-made harbor scene by an itinerant Chinese artist. Photo by Robert
Harris-Stoertz.
ACCIDENTAL CAPTAIN
In 1840 Forbes sailed onboard the Niantic, an American trader, from Canton to New York. This
was an arduous five-month voyage. While the Niantic
took a well-traveled route around the southern tip of Africa, the trip offered
many hazards for a wind-powered sailing vessel, from storms to disease to
boredom. Luckily for the crew and passengers, the Niantic departed from Canton just in time to avoid the first Opium
War – essentially a violent trade war between the Chinese authorities and
British trading concerns.
Although sailing as a passenger, Forbes found himself
standing in for the ill captain during the first leg of the voyage. Forbes kept
a journal for the duration of the trip in the form of letters to his wife, Rose. With
no post office at hand, he saved the letters until he could pass them on
to a faster ship, just in case -- “the
idea crossing my mind that an accident (say lightning) might prevent you from
ever hearing from me again.” The letters must have been delivered, since they
are now available to us as primary source documents. (Note, we will make no
attempt to correct the Captain’s spelling, syntax, or punctuation.)
July 5 – “At Sea”: “I
got the ship under way & was on deck nearly all last night beating out of
the Landrone passage, however the weather is fine & the mates are good men
so that there is no necessity in reality for my interference, but as the Capt
has given me authority I act for amusement – Poor man he has been very sick all
day.”
Acting Captain Forbes took note throughout the voyage of
other ships sighted and, in the spirit of competition, where they stood vis-à-vis the Niantic. We may take his
bragging as a bit of wit between husband and wife.
July 10 – This morning
passed to windward of the ship Globe about 6 miles she having left Macao 27
hours before us – this speaks well of the Niantic & the valour &
discretion of her pro-tem Captain.
Forbes’ initial thrill at captaining the Niantic began to wear thin when the
ship met heavy weather:
July 17 – It has been
blowing a gale at SW to WSW all last night * to day – we have been without
observations [celestial navigation] for two days & and are consequently
quite uncertain as to our situation…I have had little or not sleep the last two
nights & and am a little headachy in consequence – This acting Captain
involves a deal of anxiety & responsibility – yet without the command I
should feel more anxious.
The rough weather took a toll on the ship’s crew and we soon
find Forbes complaining:
July 18 – Our crew so
short that I cannot venture to carry sail as I would if they were all well –
however I shall make the best of it …my seafaring life stands me in good
service -- I ought to charge the owners for my work rather than pay a dollar for
my passage. Our barometer got a nock to day & is useless – What a chapter
of unpleasant things say you – It is true but I do not quail – everything now
depends on my exertions & here comes a squall, so good night.
LIFE ABOARD SHIP
After three weeks as acting captain, Forbes was able to
return command to a recovered Captain Doty. While still willing to lend a hand
on deck when needed, Forbes was able to devote more time to personal pursuits, including reading and “turning” objects out of wood on a lathe:
July 23 – “I have been
turning today and shall make some nine pins for Bob [his son] before I get home
– as well as some other pretty things.”
For company, he had his dog Flora, as well as a pet chicken!
While suffering from frequent headaches, as well as stomach and other ailments,
Forbes manages to inject humor into his writing:
August 20 – “I had
another bad day the day before yesterday and am now undergoing a system of diet –
the Dr sticks to it that my pains are Rheumatic – I say gout – gout – gout –."
HOME
Forbes makes clear throughout the trip that his thoughts are
of home:
October 18 – “…we are
not to stop at St. Helena – I regret this but little & my curiosity would
hardly have tempted me to land & visit the Tomb of Napoleon provided my
remaining on board would expedite our departure an hour – My cry is home, home,
home.” [1]
The Niantic finally
arrived in New York Harbor on December 9, 1840. Robert Bennet Forbes was
awakened early that morning by the sound of the pilot coming aboard bearing
letters (and haddock):
“Oh that moment of
suspense – the blood rushed back to its source – Capt Doty read aloud RB Forbes
Esq – I seized the letter – turned the seal side out & saw it was red,
looked at the direction – the first words were “all’s well.”[2]
Approximate route of the Niantic from Canton to New York, 1840. Map created by Gary Boba.
A STORIED SHIP
The Niantic was a three-masted
sailing ship with a storied career and a somewhat ignominious end. Built about
1832, she was a China trader, a whaler and, finally, a Gold Rush ship carrying Argonauts
to San Francisco in 1849. The lure of gold allowed many ships to make a killing
charging high prices to transport eager gold seekers. In the case of the Niantic, the captain put aside his
whaling business off the coast of Peru to transport 249 “forty-niners” from
Panama to San Francisco – mostly East Coast men looking for the fastest way to cross
a continent. Whale pots on deck were re-purposed to boil up food for the
passengers.
Upon reaching the promised land, most of the ship’s crew and
officers deserted to head to the gold fields. With no hope of raising a new
crew in the chaotic conditions on the waterfront, the captain opted to run Niantic aground, drive her masts like
nails into the ground, and sell her. Between 1849 and 1851, the ship served as
a warehouse and hostel while the town of San Francisco grew up around her on
landfill. Nor was she the only ship to be swallowed up by the burgeoning city. Other
ships were re-purposed as stores, restaurants, and taverns; at least two , the
Euphemia and the Waban, were turned to use as combined prisons and insane asylums.
In 1851 Niantic
burned to the waterline. But that was not all she wrote. A year later Niantic, or some parts of her, were back
in business as the Niantic Hotel,
reportedly the finest hotel in San Francisco, which probably wasn’t saying
much.
A sketch artist’s
view of the Niantic and other beached
ships. Date and artist unknown.
REMNANTS
By the 1870s the Hotel Niantic was gone and the landscape of the city completely changed. Remnants of the ship itself were uncovered at least three times, in 1872, 1907 after the Great Fire, and 1978, only to be quickly reburied. During these all too brief excavations, intriguing artifacts were recovered, including French champagne, Belgian pâté , and English pencils -- all luxury items. A number of these objects are now in the collection of the San Francisco Maritime Museum.
A clever diorama of the converted Niantic is on display at the San Francisco Maritime Museum, along
with a piece of the ship’s hull recovered during excavation in 1978 (below).
Difficult to imagine, but this intersection marks the final resting place of the Niantic amid what was once a frenetic waterfront on San Francisco Bay. The plaque below, originally installed nearby in 1919, is now affixed to the wall of an office tower at 505 Sansome Street, underneath which the bones of the ship still rest.
The ship’s name also lives on as the name of a San Francisco software company responsible for, among other things, developing the game Pokémon Go!, a game that encourages outdoor exploration. Captain Forbes would have approved.
[1]
Had Forbes visited Napoleon’s Tomb, he might have witnessed the exhumation of the emperor's body, which was removed from St. Helena on the ship La Belle Poule on the very day of Forbes' journal entry. In December of the same year, the
emperor’s body was re-interred in Paris at Les Invalides.
[2] It
seems a red seal may have indicated good news; perhaps more to the point, the
seal was not black, which would mean a death. After nearly half a
year at sea, Forbes was justifiably anxious for news of his family.
