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Rounding
the Horn with Lady Washington, March 1788
18 x 24 in. original oil painting
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Columbia Rediviva
in Cape Horn Seas
The typical route around Cape Horn into
the Pacific Ocean was a dangerous passage for any ship that
made the attempt. Cape Horn seas are the fiercest in the world
and can produce waves eighty feet in height.
The ship in the foreground, the Columbia
Rediviva accompanied by the Lady Washington sailed so far
south in rounding the Horn that they nearly stumbled into
the continent of Antarctica. Coincidentally, the infamous
HMS Bounty was off Cape Horn at the same time, although neither
ship saw the other.
After weeks of fruitless beating against
giant waves and endless gales, the Bounty gave up and entered
the Pacific via the Cape of Good Hope. The two American ships
ultimately arrived in the Northwest to trade for furs and
later to China for a cargo of tea.
The Rediviva sailed on from there to become
the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. The Lady
Washington returned to the Northwest.
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