"A sailing ship with two great sidewheels went splashing out of Boston Harbor on a voyage around the Horn to San Francisco. Below decks, in the creaking darkness of her cargo hold, there sat eighteen barrels of potatoes. Inside two barrels, side by side, there squatted two stowaways.

It was not once upon a time-- it was precisely the twenty-seventh day of January in the year 1849. Gold had been discovered in California some twelve months before and now, in a rush, the Gold Rush was on." --By the Great Horn Spoon! (Page 3)

Jack and his butler Praiseworthy were the two stowaways. Their adventure started when Cut-eye Higgins, the villain, stole their passage money.

As you can see on this poster, the cheapest passage was $75. That was a lot of money back then. Today that would be about $1,500.

"And me racing the Sea Raven around the Horn. Me, with my hold full of bricks and twice as many passengers as I ought to carry. But I'll beat the Sea Raven, by grabs-- if I have to throw the extra passengers overboard!" (pages 9-10) Jack and Praiseworthy were on board the ship, Lady Wilma.

It was common for ships to race each other to California during the Gold Rush. Why do you think sea captains were so desperate to win the race?

They would win prizes.

They wanted to help the gold seekers who were in a hurry to strike it rich.

They were also in a hurry to look for gold themselves.