[00:00.00]In port, the sailing ship,
[00:03.60]Hannah, under the command of
[00:06.10]Captain Mitchell lay at anchor.
[00:07.64]The adventure of crossing
[00:09.83]the Atlantic Ocean bound for Philadelphia
[00:12.35]would take two to three months.
[00:15.19]Passengers were assured
[00:17.38]there would be the best provisions
[00:19.35]and plenty of barrels of fresh water.
[00:22.63]storms could be fierce
[00:24.60]and living conditions below deck
[00:27.12]would be primitive.
[00:28.54]John joined the long queue
[00:31.27]and eventually after a lengthy wait,
[00:33.24]reached the revenue table.
[00:35.54]He affixed his signature
[00:38.06]to the contract promising
[00:39.92]to pay five pounds per person
[00:42.00]for berths aboard ship.
[00:44.29]The clerk returned the receipt
[00:47.47]to John indicating that
[00:49.33]the sum of money had been paid.
[00:51.07]Once under sail the
[00:54.91]three hundred passengers found themselves
[00:57.20]crowded into miserable conditions.
[00:59.72]The smell of so many people
[01:02.13]crowded together was offensive.
[01:04.21]The breadth of the vessel was narrow
[01:07.70]and the headroom below deck minimal.
[01:10.33]As the tiny craft
[01:12.74]sailed out of Lough Foyle,
[01:14.60]and entered the Atlantic Ocean,
[01:16.57]it started to roll ominously
[01:19.20]and those aboard wondered
[01:20.40]if they would survive the long voyage
[01:22.59]ahead or be swallowed up
[01:24.77]by the enormous waves.
[01:26.09]seasickness was everywhere
[01:28.93]and people had no appetite.
[01:30.36]The food, instead of
[01:33.09]being of high quality as promised,
[01:35.06] was too often rotten and
[01:36.92]the water was brackish |