What Happened
After measles weakens his eyes, Richard Henry Dana Jr. abandons his privileged life in Cambridge to become a merchant seaman. He serves as a common sailor aboard the Pilgrim, navigating the brutal winter storms of Cape Horn to reach the California coast. Instead of gold, he finds a grueling industry of 'hide-droghing,' where men carry heavy, cured cattle skins through the surf to trade for Boston goods. The narrative records the relentless maintenance of the ship, the absolute authority of the captain, and the specific labor required to keep a wooden vessel afloat in the 1830s.
Key figures
- Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
A student turned sailor who documented the merchant seaman's life.
- Pilgrim
The initial vessel that carries the author from Boston to California.
- Alert
The larger ship Dana joins for his return voyage to Boston.
- California
The remote coast where the crew trades goods for cattle hides.
What it's really about
- Maritime Labor
- The endless cycle of cleaning, tarring, and repairing a sailing ship.
- Judicial Tyranny
- The unchecked power of a ship's captain over his crew.
Why it's memorable
- Sailors standing on the royal-mast-head to apply fresh tar to the standing rigging.
- The dead sound of the ship striking a heavy sea like a sledgehammer hitting a pile.
Where it lands
The ship Alert, which carried the author home, was eventually captured and burned by the Confederate steamer Alabama during the Civil War.
For your book club
- How does the author's social status influence his perspective on the treatment of the common sailor?
- Compare the repetitive labor of hide-curing to the romanticized view of seafaring life.