Page:The Clipper Ship Era.djvu/380

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The Clipper Ship Era

some of whom have already been mentioned. The Romance of the Seas carried the full-length figure of an ancient navigator, whose original might have stood on the high poop of Magellan's flag-ship, with head bent forward and right hand raised to shade his eager eyes, as he gazed upon an unknown land in an uncharted sea. The Sea Serpent carried a long slender serpent, whose life-like, slimy-looking body, picked out in shades of green and gold, suggested his recent escape from the waters of one of the summer resorts along the Atlantic coast. The Nightingale carried a beautiful bust of Jenny Lind, for whom she was named. The Panama carried at her bow a nude, full-length figure of a beautiful woman with arms extended, pure white and of great artistic merit, perhaps the most beautiful figurehead ever carried by a ship. The Flying Fish carried a fish on the wing, of life-like color and giving a vivid sense of speed; the Witchcraft, a grim Salem witch riding upon her aerial broomstick; the Game-Cock, a fighting bird with outstretched neck and head, apparently eager for combat; the Northern Light, the full-length figure of an angelic creature in flowing white drapery, one graceful arm extended above her head, and bearing in her slender hand a torch with golden flame.

One of the most striking figureheads was the tall square-built sailor, with dark curly hair and bronzed clean-shaven face, who stood at the bow of the Champion of the Seas. A black belt with a massive brass buckle supported his white trousers, which were as tight about the hips as the skin of an eel, and had wide, bell-shaped bottoms