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- Log of Whaleship Napoleon
Log of Whaleship Napoleon, 1858-1862.
Manuscript.
Folio, 33.5 cm. 229 pp. manuscript entries.
Price: $7500
The “Napoleon” was a ship-rigged whaler of 360 tons, launched in 1838 in Mattapoisett, MA. She was home ported in Nantucket for her first four whaling voyages, 1838-1854. In 1855 she moved to New Bedford and sailed from that port until 1882, when she transferred again, this time to Edgartown for her final two voyages, 1883-1885. Her career of nearly fifty years of Pacific whaling establishes her as one of the longer-lived vessels in the American whaling fleet.
On this voyage she departed New Bedford December 23, 1858, under the command of Captain Thomas Dallman. While rounding the Horn in March, 1859, Dallman took sick, and on the 28th of that month they put in at Tulcahuano. On April 2, “Capt. Dallman a little better, concluded to send the ship out on a cruise in charge of the mate, and return to Payta (Paita) for him.” On the 3rd of April the foremast hands requested liberty. The new captain, former first mate George W. Macy “told them they could not have it.” At this point Dallman’s departure caused considerable upheaval among the crew, several of whom “said they shipped under Capt. Dallman” and refused to work for Mr. Macy. “Put the Cooper Brown and Manuel boatsteerer, Gordon, Arlington and Alex what I supposed to be the ringleaders in irons, and then got dinner.”
This matter-of-fact approach served Macy well. “Napoleon” put to sea next day, fishing the Line, and the mutineers slowly came around. On May 3rd they landed their first sperm whale, with two more taken the next day. By the middle of the month, they were catching more whales in the Galapagos, where they remained until the end of July, when they put in at Tombez (Tumbes, Peru) for liberty and supplies. Of the former mutineers, only Gordon and Arlington continued to cause trouble. The ship returned to the Galapagos until the end of August, then sailed west along the Equator, reaching the Society Islands at the end of September 1859.
The quality of the journal keeper’s entries is high. He expresses himself in a straightforward manner, never glossing over uncomfortable details. He has a good sense of humor, which tends to express itself in ironical understatement. For example, this account of an unimaginably hideous scene from October 8th, when they were bound from the Society Islands to New Zealand: “At 3:30 pm Andrew Pierce a fore mast hand fell from the fore Topmast head struck on deck firs on top of a hogs back then struck his head against the heel of the starboard cat head which broke one legg short off below the nee and rendered him censeless took him in the cabin set his legg and done all we could do to make him comfortable the hog had his back broke & seven ribs & jaw so we killed him.” Pierce died the next day.
On November 12, 1859, trouble erupted again. The journal keeper/mate got into it with a boatsteerer (harpooner) named Samuel who the mate described as “the most Able bodied man on board.” He was repaid for his trouble by getting whacked with a stick by Samuel. Capt. Macy intervened, dragged the recalcitrant boatsteerer back on deck, and “boxed him alongside the head with his hand 2 or three times and set him to picking ocum.”
So it went for the rest of the trip. They alternated fishing along the equator with returns to New Zealand. Troubles with the crew continued, and disputes and fistfights were regular occurrences. They spent the entire year of 1861 cruising off the Chatham Islands, returned to the Bay of Islands until May, then headed home to New Bedford. Interestingly, one bad apple got his just deserts on the way home. The entry for May 8, 1862, reads, “At 8:20 pm shipped a sea on our larboard quarter which took away the larboard boat & one davit – and washed overboard one man Edward Arlington (one of the original mutineers). He was not missed for about five minutes. Nothing on our power could save him.”
“Napoleon” sighted Montauk light on July 6, 1862, and the journal of her voyage ended there. She returned 1371 barrels of sperm oil, a moderate success considering the riotous nature of this cruise. No whale stamps in this logbook, but plenty of action! Seven pages at the back of the book list whales raised and brought on board (when, where, and by whom) and provisions expended during the voyage. Text clean and legible. Bound in marbled boards which have been rebacked in calf, housed in a handsome quarter morocco clamshell box with gold spine lettering and raised bands. Full description available on request.
