He was in Rome working on a project in international law when pneumonia struck him down in January 1882. He continued to travel, going around the world in 1859. In the 1850s, he became active in the anti-slavery movement. He completed law school and became an expert in maritime law. “Goodbye Santa Barbara! … No more duckings in your breakers … no money would make him ship to see them again.”ĭana returned to Boston in September 1836 aboard the Alert. … The people hardly to earn their sunlight.” He also had little use for Santa Barbara. “The Californians are an idle, thriftless people, and can make nothing for themselves. Dana makes special mention of the traditional cascarones, the eggshells filled with perfume or other substances to be cracked over the heads of the unsuspecting, a tradition that is still part of our own Fiesta.ĭana had little good to say about Californians. Perhaps the most famous portion of Two Years Before the Mast, at least for local readers, is the description of the three-day party to celebrate the marriage of Ana María de la Guerra to Alfred Robinson. The small pueblo had no pier, and Dana describes the difficulty of rowing from three miles offshore through the surf to offload supplies and take on hides and tallow.

The ship’s first California stop was Santa Barbara. Upon his return to the East, Dana would write an article for a legal journal, “Cruelty to Seamen.” He described one incident when two sailors were “flogged like a beast,” apparently for little reason. Dana was appalled by what he viewed as Thompson’s despotism and cruelty, bordering on sadism. The crew endured raging storms, rat-infested quarters, poor food, and the iron hand of the ship’s captain, Francis Thompson. The Pilgrim took three months to reach California. The title of Dana’s book referred to the area below decks in front of the mast where the sailors slept. The ship belonged to the firm of Bryant, Sturgis, and Co., one of the major players in the hide and tallow trade in Alta California.

After a year, Dana decided to see a bit of the world his doctor hoped a sea voyage would help restore decent vision. He entered Harvard University in 1831, but two years later he came down with a severe case of measles that seriously affected his eyesight. Richard Henry Dana was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1815.

This painting is from the Frank Thompson Collection. Richard Henry Dana sailed aboard Pilgrim and wrote his well-known book about the trip.

Two before the mast