Explore "The Transport "Palestine."" by W. Clark Russell on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
In the spring of 1853 the hired transport _Palestine_, which had been fitting out at Deptford for the reception of a number of convicts, was reported to the Admiralty as ready for sea.
The burthen of the _Palestine_ was 680 tons, and the number of felons she had been equipped to accommodate in her 'tween-decks was 120. My name is John Barker, and I was second mate of that ship. Her commander was Captain Wickham, and her chief officer Joseph Barlow. The _Palestine_ was an old-fashioned craft, scarcely fit for the work she had been hired for. Official selection, however, was probably influenced by the owners' low tender. Good stout ships got £4 7s. 6d. a ton; I believe the _Palestine_ was hired for £3 15s.