Two Years Before the Mast · Chapter
XI explained
The brig Pilgrim clears the islands and rounds Point Conception, encountering a violent squall that forces the crew to scramble aloft and reduce sail.
What happens
The brig Pilgrim clears the islands and rounds Point Conception, encountering a violent squall that forces the crew to scramble aloft and reduce sail. After five days of stormy weather, they finally reach Monterey, where the narrator contrasts the pleasant, green landscape and civilized feel of the town with the earlier harsh impressions of California. He also recounts his first successful act of seamanship—sending down a royal yard.
Themes in this chapter
Hardship and Endurance
The crew endures a violent squall, five days of stormy weather, and the strain of working aloft in dangerous conditions.
Transformation and Identity
The narrator's successful sending down of a royal yard marks a personal milestone in his development from a green hand to a competent sailor.
Cultural Encounter and Otherness
The contrast between the 'civilized' appearance of Monterey and the earlier harsh impressions of California highlights the narrator's cultural perceptions.
Characters to notice
- Richard Henry Dana Jr.
Describes his experience aloft during the squall, losing his hat, and later performing his first act of seamanship by sending down a royal yard.
- Captain Thompson
Shows off the vessel by carrying too much sail until a squall forces a hasty reduction; he orders the narrator aloft to furl the main royal.
- Mr. R⸺
One of the passengers who, along with the captain's brother, expresses concern about the sail load before the squall.
- Mr. S⸺
Seen at the other royal masthead working to furl the sail during the squall.
- Mr. Russell
The second mate who helps arrange for the narrator to send down the royal yard in port.
Key passages
“There’s nothing for Jack to do but to obey orders, and I went up upon the yard; and there was a worse “mess,” if possible, than I had left below.”
A sailor must simply follow commands, so I climbed onto the yard, only to find an even more chaotic tangle of sails than the one I had just left on deck.
Highlights the narrator's dutiful obedience and the escalating difficulty of the task aloft.
“I will own there was a pleasant feeling of superiority in being able to walk the deck, and eat, and go about, and comparing one’s self with two poor, miserable, pale creatures, staggering and shuffling about decks...”
I admit I enjoyed a sense of pride in being steady on my feet and healthy, while the seasick passengers could barely move.
Reveals the narrator's smug satisfaction in his own sea-readiness compared to the passengers.
“I got through without any word from the officer, and heard the “well done” of the mate, when the yard reached the deck, with as much satisfaction as I ever felt at Cambridge on seeing a “bene” at the foot of a Latin exercise.”
I completed the task without any criticism from the officer, and the mate's praise when the yard came down gave me as much pride as a good grade on a Latin assignment at Harvard.
Compares the narrator's seamanship achievement to academic success, underscoring his dual identity as a sailor and a former student.