"Quarter-Deck of an Emigrant Ship - The Roll Call" Illustrated London News.
As soon as a ship was well out from the dock, all of the passengers would be called up onto the deck and kept there while the captain and members of the crew went through every part of the ship, poking into barrels and prying open chests in search of stowaways. Then the roll-call would begin, and on a ship carrying 700 or 800 passengers this might take four hours. In this sketch from the Illustrated London News July 6, 1850, the emigrants are gathered at the stern of the quarter-deck. The clerk calling out the roll stands on the rail so that he can be seen. The purpose of the exercise was to ensure that everyone had paid his fare, and that parents did not attempt to pass eighteen-year-olds as children, or eight or nine-year-olds as infants. Officers also had an eye out for any helpless or crippled passengers. A ship-owner had to pay a seventy-five dollar fine it he brought anyone to New York who was clearly unable to look after himself. Those whom the captain refused to take would be returned to shore by tug.
