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Soap stone tea pot from Java.
1890
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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Her general comments are also very interesting:

'Barque 'Belmont'
South Atlantic Lat. S 18º 50, Long W 3º
24th August 1894
Dear Papa,
…The Weather has been lovely, one only little hard blow off the Cape for 24 hours. The Ther. has never been below 60º and it was mid-Winter when we came round the Cape of Good Hope. We have been and are over run with rats. On leaving Singapore we had two cats but they both died, we thought from eating too many rats. I don't know what we shall do if we can't get a cat at St. Helena. I am afraid to go to sleep now. We caught two the other night in the Piano - killed them both. I read somewhere Cayenne Pepper scattered around would keep them away. I tried that but the draughts kept it in the air, and we nearly all strangled with coughing….'

28

Maori jade axe from New Zealand
1890
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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Perhaps her most interesting, and touching, story is of the boy from a China Sea island:

'Ship 'Morning Light'
29th Oct. 1886
'… About four PM o'clock we sighted Anna I., a small island, about a mile in circumference (probably Pulo Anna, an island belonging to the Republic of Palau, in Micronesia). When we were about ten miles off, we saw two boats coming off. We thought they must be some ship boats which had been wrecked there, but as they came nearer we saw they were natives. We knew they must want something pretty badly because it was getting dark and looked like squalls. They came up along side. Fred let them come on board. They all came, about twenty, among them a little boy about Ron's age, perhaps older but not as large. All had long straight hair and the poor things were almost starving-didn't have a thing in their boats except mats, splendid fishing lines and shells, said they were 'poor.' They ate about a bushel of bread but the only thing they would take for their mats was tobacco. They seemed crazy for it. You can imagine how much they wanted it when I tell you they SOLD the LITTLE BOY to Fred for FOUR POUNDS of TOBACCO. One they called the king, he did the trading. Wanted to sell two more but F. would not take them.… The island must be over running with people. When they left, the little boy's father rubbed his nose four times, all the rest once. I sent a piece of tobacco to his mother so she would not cry. It was dark when they left us. Mr. Crocker cut Johnnie's hair, gave him a bath. He seemed contented, amazed at everything. Did not know how to go downstairs, cannot speak a word of English, but seems bright and is a nice looking little savage.'
   The 'Morning Light' continued on its way to Shanghai and then sailed for New York. Grace Ladd's letters for the next fifteen months are missing so we can learn the rest of 'Johnnie's' story from Grace and Fred's daughter Kathryn:

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'He was completely uncivilized but very smart and eager to learn. My parents became very fond of him. When mother took him down stairs to the After Cabin to find some clothes, he looked at the stairs - then proceeded to go down on his hands and knees head first.… Mother amused herself by teaching him to read and write. He caught on quickly and soon learned to speak English.… Unfortunately the cold weather in Shanghai in late November and early December did not agree with Albert (Kathryn's name for 'Johnnie'). He caught a cold and then as they sailed back south to the Equator, he seemed to recover - until they sailed for South around the Horn when the cough returned. By the time the 'Morning Light' reached New York on June 24, Albert was very ill and they took him to the Hospital. He was dying and very home sick saying to mother, 'Oh Misey, if I could have a Cocoanut!' In 1887, cocoanuts were scarce in New York. Father combed the City and eventually found one. Little Albert Died with the Cocoanut in his arms.'

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The barque 'Belmont' of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
1888
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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In 1891 Capt. Ladd, on behalf of 'The Belmont Shipping Co. Ltd.' took delivery of the newly constructed barque 'Belmont'. Built in Port Glasgow, Scotland the 'Belmont' was a 1415 ton barque made entirely of steel and some 216 feet in length. He then sailed to Cardiff where he loaded a cargo of coal for Rio de Janeiro. The 'Belmont' was to be the Ladd's main home for the next twenty or so years.

33

Maté cup and spoon from Buenos Ayres.
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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34

Carved 'bog oak' box from Queenstown, Ireland.
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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Carved emu egg from Cape Town, South Africa
1888
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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The Yarmouth County Archives' collection contains a number of shipboard photographs of their daughter Kathryn who sailed aboard the barque 'Belmont'. At that time the vessel was mainly involved in the New England to Buenos Ayres trade although the 'Belmont' also travelled to Europe. Kathryn lived most of her life, until she was twelve, aboard this vessel.

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Kathryn Ladd dressed for a storm.
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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Kathryn with her pets.
1905
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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When the First World War broke out the 'Belmont' was re-registered as an American, and therefore a neutral, vessel. By 1915, with the torpedoing of many square-riggers by German submarines, Capt. Ladd decided that it was too dangerous to keep his family at sea with him and so moved them ashore. He shortly afterwards retired himself. The 'Belmont' sailed throughout the war under Capt. H.W. Fancy of Queens County, NS. In 1921 the vessel was converted to a coal barge and eventually sank off the coast of Florida in 1933.