Log of the Mary Ann, 1832-1833

Dublin Core

Title

Log of the Mary Ann, 1832-1833

Subject

Whaling--Indian Ocean.

Description

The Mary Ann sailed out of New Bedford (Joseph Crocker, Master) on a voyage to the Indian Ocean from July 1832 to May 1833. This volume was probably kept by the Mate as a personal journal. He records daily events, shipboard evolutions, weather, vessels sighted, whales seen and taken, and similar details of the voyage. The entries stop May 22, 1833, about three months before the end of their voyage—apparently because he simply ran out of pages to fill. The highlights of the trip were the first whale caught, the captain falling overboard, losing his cutting spade and getting in a fight with the boatsteerer, and a stowaway discovered (he’d come aboard during a “gam” with two other whale ships three days earlier).