Two Years Before the Mast (Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Biography Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
- First Published: 1840
- Time of Work: 1834–1836
- Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, and California
- Principal Characters: Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Captain Thompson, Andrew B. Amerzene, Tom Harris, Captain Faucon
- Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir
- Subjects: Culture, North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Traveling or travelers, Voyages, Friendship, Manners or customs, Social life, California, West, U.S., Ships, Sailing or sailors, Lifestyles, Sea or seafaring life, Adventure, Ocean
- Locales: California, Boston, MA, Oceans
Form and Content
In Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., presents a narrative of his two years as a sailor aboard the Pilgrim, trading on the coast of California. He describes the sailor’s life in the early days of shipping, as well as life in California before the gold rush. His eyesight impaired by measles, Dana left Harvard University to take a voyage during his convalescence—but as a sailor rather than passenger. Upon his return, he published his narrative of that sea journey. The book consists of...
[The entire page is 1439 words long]
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