# IX explained — Two Years Before the Mast

> Chapter companion for Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana Jr..

## What happens

The crew experiences their first landing on the California coast, learning the dangerous technique of surf landing and observing Sandwich Islanders loading hides and tallow. Tensions between the captain and mate begin to surface, and the narrator reflects on the harsh realities of the hide-droghing trade.

## Themes in this chapter

### Labor and Economy

The chapter details the physical labor of surf landings and hide loading, highlighting the economic realities of the hide-droghing trade and the division of labor between officers, sailors, and Sandwich Islanders.

### Cultural Encounter and Otherness

The narrator encounters Sandwich Islanders, a Spanish horseman, and the unfamiliar customs of the California coast, emphasizing the cultural differences and the narrator's sense of alienation.

### Authority and Discipline

Tensions between the captain and mate are introduced, with the narrator anticipating trouble due to the captain's interference and the mate's leniency.

## Character check-ins

### Richard Henry Dana Jr.

The narrator observes the surf landing and hide loading, reflecting on the contrast with his Cambridge college life.

### Captain Thompson

The captain takes the steering oar for the return trip and has been finding fault with the mate, hinting at future trouble.

### Mr. Brown

Bill Brown comments on the unfamiliarity of the place, calling it 'the seventh city that ever I was in, and no Christian one neither.'

### Tom Harris

Tom responds to Bill Brown's remark, saying 'you haven't seen the worst of it yet.'

### Captain Nye

Captain Nye is mentioned as the master of the brig Loriotte, engaged in the coastal trade.

### John (French John)

John, the Swedish sailor, is the narrator's watchmate for the anchor watch from midnight to two.

## Key lines

> This is what I call 'head work.'

The second mate jokes that carrying hides on their heads is a literal form of 'head work,' contrasting with intellectual labor.

_The second mate's comment underscores the physical demands of the hide trade and the narrator's distance from his academic past._

> This is the seventh city that ever I was in, and no Christian one neither.

Bill Brown expresses his discomfort and sense of foreignness in this unfamiliar place.

_Bill's remark reflects the cultural alienation felt by the crew in Mexican California._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters/ix
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/two_years_before_the_mast_se/chapters