Two Years Before the Mast
"Two Years Before the Mast" by Richard Henry Dana Jr. is a memoir published in 1840, recounting his 1834-1836 voyage as a common sailor from Boston to California. Dana vividly chronicles life at sea aboard a merchant brig trading for cow hides along the Mexican California coast. He describes navigating Cape Horn's treacherous winter storms, witnessing brutal floggings by his captain, befriending Hawaiian sailors, and observing early California settlements. This groundbreaking account exposed the harsh realities of maritime life and advocated for seamen's rights.
Related books
A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany-Bay
Watkin Tench
Round Cape Horn Voyage of the Passenger-Ship James W. Paige, from Maine to California in the Year 1852
J. (Joseph) Lamson
Early Australian Voyages: Pelsart, Tasman, Dampier
John Pinkerton
Olla Podrida
Frederick Marryat
Seven Legs Across the Seas: A Printer's Impressions of Many Lands
Samuel Murray
The Men on Deck: Master, Mates and Crew, Their Duties and Responsibilities
Felix Riesenberg
Under Sail
Felix Riesenberg
Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899 : $b a narrative of the voyage of the "Belgica" among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the south pole
Frederick Albert Cook