Two Years before the Mast

by Richard Henry Dana

Overview

In 1869 the late Richard Henry Dana, Jr., prepared a new edition of his "Two Years Before the Mast''. In presenting the first 'author's edition' to the public, he has been encouraged to add an account of a visit to the old scenes, made twenty-four years after, together with notices of the subsequent story and fate of the vessels, and of some of the persons with whom the reader is made acquainted.

The popularity of this book has been so great and continued that it is now proposed to make an illustrated edition with new material.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783941842946
Publisher:	Salzwasser-Verlag Gmbh
Publication date:	09/15/2009
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.88(d)

Read an Excerpt

The lure of the sea is reflected in our never-ending fascination with the lives of sailors, and there is no more authentic "voice from the forecastle" than Richard H. Dana's in Two Years Before the Mast. While attending Harvard in the early 1800's, he became ill, and upon recuperating he decided to sail a bit before continuing his education. He joined the Pilgrim as a common sailor and his book provides a detailed description of the Pilgrim's 1834 journey from Boston around Cape Horn and along the western coast of North America. Dana brings alive for us the daily existence of life at sea in the golden age of sail:

"For a few minutes, all was uproar and apparent confusion: men flying about like monkeys in the rigging; ropes and blocks flying; orders given and answered, and the confused noises of men singing out at the ropes. The top-sails came to the mast-heads with 'Cheerily, men!' and, in a few minutes, every sail was set; for the wind was light. The head sails were backed, the windlass came round 'slip - slap' to the cry of the sailors; - 'Hove short, sir,' said the mate; - 'Up with him!' - 'Aye, aye, sir.' - A few hearty and long heaves, and the anchor showed its head. 'Hook cat!' - The fall was stretched along the decks; all hands laid hold; - 'Hurrah, for the last time,' said the mate; and the anchor came to the cat-head to the tune of 'Time for us to go,' with a loud chorus. Everything was done quick, as though it were for the last time. The head yards were filled away, and our ship began to move through the water..."

And what do sailors do for fun? Here is Dana's account of shore leave outside San Francisco:

"After this repast, we had a fine run, scouring the whole country on our fleet horses, and came into town soon after sundown. Here we found our companions who had refused to go to ride with us, thinking that a sailor has no more business with a horse than a fish has with a balloon. They were moored, stem and stern, in a grog-shop, making a great noise, with a crowd of Indians and hungry half-breeds about them, and with a fair prospect of being stripped and dirked, or left to pass the night in the calabozo. With a great deal of trouble, we managed to get them down to the boats, though not without many angry looks and interferences from the Spaniards, who had marked them out for their prey...Our forecastle, as usual after a liberty-day, was a scene of tumult all night long from the drunken ones. They had just got to sleep toward morning, when they were turned up with the rest, and kept at work all day in the water, carrying hides, their heads aching so that they could hardly stand. This is sailor's pleasure."

And here is a playful race between two ships:

"The [ship] California was to windward of us, and had every advantage; yet, while the breeze was stiff, we held our own. As soon as it began to slacken, she ranged a little ahead, and the order was given to loose the royals. In an instant the gaskets were off and the bunt dropped. 'Sheet home the fore royal! - Weather sheet's home!' - 'Hoist away, sir!' is bawled from aloft. 'Overhaul your clew-lines!' shouts the mate. 'Aye, aye, sir, all clear!' - 'Taught leech! belay! Well the lee brace; haul taught to windward' - and the royals are set. These brought us up again; but the wind continuing light, the California set hers, and it was soon evident that she was walking away from us. Our captain then hailed, and said that he should keep off to his course; adding - 'She isn't the Alert now. If I had her in your trim, she would have been out of sight by this time.' This was good-naturedly answered from the California, and she braced sharp up, and stood close upon the wind up the coast; while we squared away our yards, and stood before the wind to the south-south-west. The California's crew manned her weather rigging, waved their hats in the air, and gave up three hearty cheers, which we answered as heartily, and the customary single cheer came back to us from over the water."

This classic is rich with relationships between officers and crew, maintenance of discipline including horrific floggings, types of work, excursions onto land, contact with other ships, sailor's life stories, and encounters with people on shore. And really, we all have a bit of the old salt in us, and reading Dana one can re-live all those childhood shipwreck games. But this book is irresistible for the lingo alone. Haul to!

Table of Contents

Chapter I.
	Departure
	First Impressions
	Ship's Duties
Chapter II.
	First Impressions
	Ship's Duties
Chapter III.
	Ship's Duties
Chapter IV.
	Sundays At Sea
	Trouble on Board
	Land Ho
	A Pampero
	Cape Horn
Chapter V.
	Cape Horn
	A Visit
Chapter VI.
	Loss Of a Man
Chapter VII.
	Superstitions
	Juan Fernandez
	Putting the Vessel In Order
Chapter VIII.
	Painting
	Daily Life
	Point Conception
Chapter IX.
	Santa Barbara
	Beach-Combing
	A Southeaster
Chapter X.
	A Southeaster
	Passage Up the Coast
Chapter XI.
	Passage Up the Coast
	Monterey
Chapter XII.
	Monterey
Chapter XIII.
	Monterey
	A British Sailor
	Santa Barbara
Chapter XIV.
	Hide Droghing
	Discontent
	San Pedro
	Flogging
Chapter XV.
	Flogging
	Night On Shore
	State of Things On Board
	San Diego
Chapter XVI.
	Liberty-Day On Shore
Chapter XVII.
	San Diego
	Desertion
	San Pedro Again
	Easter Sunday
Chapter XVIII.
	Easter Sunday
	Italian Sailors
	San Juan
	San Diego Again
	Life on Shore
Chapter XIX.
	Sandwich-Islanders
	Hide-Curing
	Wood-Cutting
	Coyotes
	Rattlesnakes
Chapter XX.
	New Comers
	People at the Hide-Houses
	Leisure
	Pilgrim News from Home
	Pilgrim Occupations on the Beach
	California and its Inhabitants
Chapter XXI.
	California and its Inhabitants
Chapter XXII.
	Life on the Beach
	The Alert
Chapter XXIII.
	New Ship and Shipmates
	A Race
	My Watchmate, Tom Harris
	San Diego Again
Chapter XXIV.
	A Descent
	A Hurried Departure
	A New Shipmate
Chapter XXV.
	Rumors of War
	A Spouter
	Sudden Slipping for a Southeaster
	To Windward
	A Dry Gale
Chapter XXVI.
	San Francisco
	Monterey Revisited
Chapter XVII.
	Monterey Revisited
	A Set-to
	A Decayed Gentleman
	A Contrabandista
	A Fandango
Chapter XVIII.
	A Victim
	California Rangers-Beach-Combers
	News From Home
	Last Looks
Chapter XXIX.
	Loading for Home
	A Surprise
	Last of an Old Friend
	The Last Hide
	A Hard Case
	An Anchor, for Home!
	The Alert and California
	Homeward Bound
Chapter XXX.
	Homeward Bound
	Our Passenger, Professor Nuttall
	Homeward Bound
Chapter XXXI.
	Bad Prospects
	First Touch of Cape Horn
	Iceburgs
	Temperance Ships
	Lying-Up
	Ice
	Difficulty on Board
	Change of Course
	Straits of Magellan
Chapter XXXII.
	Ice Again
	Disappointment
	Cape Horn
	Land Ho!
Chapter XXXIII.
	Cracking On
	Progress Homeward
	A Fine Sight
	Fitting Ship
	By-Plane
Chapter XXXIV.
	An Escape
	Equator
	Tropical Squalls
	Tropical Thunder-Storm
Chapter XXXV.
	A Reef-Topsail Breeze
	Scurvy
	A Friend in Need
	Preparing for Port
	Gulf Stream
Chapter XXXVI.
	Soundings
	Sights About Home
	Boston Harbo
	Leaving the Ship
	Twenty Four Years After	432

Reading Group Guide

1. Discuss Dana's motives for the voyage. What do you feel was the predominating factor in his decision to undertake such a journey? What were the risks involved, and how serious do you feel they were? What is your view of Dana's momentous choice?

2. What do you make of Dana's attitude toward religion, and religious instruction? Do you agree or not? Why? Is his a perspective that is anachronistic, or not?

3. How does social class play a role in the book? Discuss the implications of Dana's background. How did it affect his experience on the ship? Did you find it important, or inconsequential?

4. What is your opinion of the book's stark realism? Does Dana have an agenda in writing the book? If so, what is it? Do you think the experience was a positive one for Dana, or not?

5. What is the role of nature and the outdoors for Dana? How does he view the American West? How does his voyage attest to his view of the outdoors? Does this view change throughout his experience on the ship? If so, how?

6. Discuss the contrasts between Captain Thompson and Captain Faucon. How do their leadership skills differ? Who is more effective, and why? Discuss Dana's book on a political level. What do his portrayals of each captain reveal?

7. Discuss the considerable shift in Dana's perspective as evidenced in 'Twenty-Four Years After.' How do you account for this change? Do you agree or disagree with the author's decision to replace the original final chapter with this later account? Why or why not?

Editorial Reviews

Dana’s small book is a very great book.”

D. H. Lawrence

Possesses…the romantic charm of Robinson Crusoe.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Almost two centuries later, we are all made richer by Dana’s classic memoir, Two Years Before the Mast, which is among the finest books ever written about the immensely popular subject of adventure at sea, and is as relevant and readable today as it was then.”

Wall Street Journal

[Dana’s] book about his time at sea is an American classic, vivid in its description of the sailor’s life and all its dangers and delights.”

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