Two Years Before the Mast

Richard Henry Dana

• Publisher: Start Publishing LLC
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781625581372
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Tracing an awe-inspiring oceanic route from Boston, around Cape Horn, to the California coast, Two Years Before the Mast is both a riveting story of adventure and the most eloquent, insightful account we have of life at sea in the early nineteenth century. Richard Henry Dana is only nineteen when he abandons the patrician world of Boston and Harvard for an arduous voyage among real sailors, amid genuine danger. The result is an astonishing read, replete with vivid descriptions of storms, whales, and the ship's mad captain, terrible hardship and magical beauty, and fascinating historical detail, including an intriguing portrait of California before the gold rush. As D. H. Lawrence proclaimed, "Dana's small book is a very great book."

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Departure
• First Impressions–“Sail Ho!”
• Ship’s Duties–tropics
• A Rogue–trouble On Board–“Land Ho!”–Pompero–Cape Horn
• Cape Horn–A Visit
• Loss of a Man–Superstition
• Juan Fernandez–The Pacific
• “Tarring Down”–Daily Life–“Going Aft”–California
• California–A South-Easter
• A South-Easter–Passage Up the Coast
• Passage Up the Coast–Monterey
• Life At Monterey
• Trading–A British Sailor
• Santa Barbara–Hide-Droghing–Harbor Duties–Discontent–San Pedro
• A Flogging–A Night On Shore–The State of Things On Board–San Diego
• Liberty-Day On Shore
• San Diego–A Desertion–San Pedro Again–Beating the Coast
• Easter Sunday–“Sail Ho!”–Whales–San Juan–Romance of Hide-Droghing–San Diego Again
• The Sandwich Islanders–Hide-Curing–Wood-Cutting–Rattle-Snakes–New-Comers
• Leisure–News From Home–“Burning the Water”
• California and Its Inhabitants
• Life On Shore–The Alert
• New Ship and Shipmates–My Watchmate
• San Diego Again–A Descent–Hurried Departure–A New Shipmate
• Rumors of War–A Spouter–Slipping For a South-Easter–A Gale
• San Francisco–Monterey
• The Sunday Wash-Up–On Shore–A Set-To–A Grandee–“Sail Ho!”–A Fandango
• An Old Friend–A Victim–California Rangers–News From Home–Last Looks
• Loading For Home–A Surprise–Last of An Old Friend–The Last Hide–A Hard Case–Up Anchor, For Home!–Homeward Bound
• Beginning the Long Return Voyage–A Scare
• Bad Prospects–First Touch of Cape Horn–Icebergs–Temperance Ships–Lying-Up–Ice–Difficulty On Board–Change of Course–Straits of Magellan
• Ice Again–A Beautiful Afternoon–Cape Horn–“Land Ho!”–Heading For Home
• Cracking On–Progress Homeward–A Pleasant Sunday–A Fine Sight–By-Play
• Narrow Escapes–The Equator–Tropical Squalls–A Thunder Storm
• A Double-Reef-Top-Sail Breeze–Scurvy–A Friend in Need–Preparing For Port–The Gulf Stream
• Soundings–Sights From Home–Boston Harbor–Leaving the Ship
• Concluding Chapter
• Twenty-Four Years After