Dana, Richard Henry / 2008-07-25 00:00:00

1840
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST
by Richard Henry Dana
CHAPTER I
DEPARTURE
The fourteenth of August was the day fixed upon for the sailing of
the brig Pilgrim on her voyage from Boston round Cape Horn to the
western coast of North America. As she was to get under weigh early in
the afternoon, I made my appearance on board at twelve o'clock, in
full sea-rig, and with my chest, containing an outfit for a two or
three years' voyage, which I had undertaken from a determination to
cure, if possible, by an entire change of life, and by a long
absence from books and study, a weakness of the eyes, which had
obliged me to give up my pursuits, and which no medical aid seemed
likely to cure.
The change from the tight dress coat, silk cap and kid gloves of
an undergraduate at Cambridge, to the loose duck trowsers, checked
shirt and tarpaulin hat of a sailor, though somewhat of a
transformation, was soon made, and I supposed that I should pass
very well for a jack tar. But it is impossible to deceive the
practised eye in these matters; and while I supposed myself to be
looking as salt as Neptune himself, I was, no doubt, known for a
landsman by every one on board as soon as I hove in sight.
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