Richard Henry Dana Jr.

Two Years Before the Mast: A Sailor's Life at Sea (2005)

In a way, the best thing for a writer is misfortune. In that regard, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. got lucky.A young Harvard man, he signed on as a common seaman aboard the brig Pilgrim, bound for California from Boston, to help improve his health. Had it been smooth sailing over benign seas under a wi...