Richard Henry Dana’s story “Loss of a Man,” 1834
In 1834 Richard Henry Dana Jr. dropped out of Harvard and served two years as a common sailor—before the mast—sailing from Boston, around Cape Horn, and on to California, then part of Mexico.
Monday, Nov. 19th. This was a black day in our calendar. At seven o’clock in the morning, it being our watch below, we were aroused from a sound sleep by the cry of “All hands ahoy! A man overboard!” This unwonted cry sent a thrill through the heart of everyone, and hurrying on deck we found the vessel hove flat aback, with all her studding-sails set; for the boy who was at the helm left it to throw something overboard, and the carpenter, who was an old sailor, knowing that the wind was light, put the helm down and hove her aback. The watch on deck were lowering away the quarter-boat, and I got on deck just in time to heave myself into her as she was leaving the side….
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Richard Henry Dana’s story “A Flogging” from Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
Richard Henry Dana’s story “Easter in Santa Barbara” from Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
Richard Henry Dana’s story “Exploring San Diego” from Two Years Before the Mast (1840)
Image: Brig Off the Maine Coast by Fitz Hugh Lane, 1851, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, public domain.