Jeffro
Silver Member
The Wreck of the Whaleship Essex
by Owen Chase
Nov. 20, 1820- Chase was running down whales in the Pacific when one of the wounded sperm whales attacked their small boat. After fixing the breach in the lifeboat, they rowed back to the Essex, soon to be nailed by the whale again. The larger ship sank.
The crew of twenty piled into the lifeboats and set off for shore.
Chase was far to busy in the next few months to write an account of his adventures, but he put them all down when he finally reached land. This book is his narrative.
They first landed on a small group of islands near Tahiti, where three of the crew decided to take their chances. After the main group left them there, they found eight human skeletons in a cave nearby. They survived on berries and rainwater for a few weeks before being picked up by a passing trader.
The main group (including Chase) continued on. Eventually, one by one, several members of the party died due to starvation and dehydration. The remaining members survived by resorting to cannibalism.
Evidently humans aren't too bad at restoring your constitution, because after the sick and wounded had passed on, it was taking quite some time for another to pass away, and the rest got hungry.
They drew lots to see who would go. The cabin boy lost. They shot and ate him.
Like I said earlier, Owen Chase set this tale down in pen when he reached the mainland again. Twenty years later, a writer by the name of Herman Melville picked up this book and couldn't put it down, finishing it in one night. He sought out and spent some time with Chase, getting as much information as he could about their gruesome ordeal.
And thats how Herman Melville created Moby Dick.
As Chase grew older, the headache that had plagued him since the ordeal became unbearable. He was judged insane in 1868 and died in a mental institution.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shipwreck-Whaleship-Essex-Owen-Chase/dp/0712667415
by Owen Chase
Nov. 20, 1820- Chase was running down whales in the Pacific when one of the wounded sperm whales attacked their small boat. After fixing the breach in the lifeboat, they rowed back to the Essex, soon to be nailed by the whale again. The larger ship sank.
The crew of twenty piled into the lifeboats and set off for shore.
Chase was far to busy in the next few months to write an account of his adventures, but he put them all down when he finally reached land. This book is his narrative.
They first landed on a small group of islands near Tahiti, where three of the crew decided to take their chances. After the main group left them there, they found eight human skeletons in a cave nearby. They survived on berries and rainwater for a few weeks before being picked up by a passing trader.
The main group (including Chase) continued on. Eventually, one by one, several members of the party died due to starvation and dehydration. The remaining members survived by resorting to cannibalism.
Evidently humans aren't too bad at restoring your constitution, because after the sick and wounded had passed on, it was taking quite some time for another to pass away, and the rest got hungry.
They drew lots to see who would go. The cabin boy lost. They shot and ate him.
Like I said earlier, Owen Chase set this tale down in pen when he reached the mainland again. Twenty years later, a writer by the name of Herman Melville picked up this book and couldn't put it down, finishing it in one night. He sought out and spent some time with Chase, getting as much information as he could about their gruesome ordeal.
And thats how Herman Melville created Moby Dick.
As Chase grew older, the headache that had plagued him since the ordeal became unbearable. He was judged insane in 1868 and died in a mental institution.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shipwreck-Whaleship-Essex-Owen-Chase/dp/0712667415
