Two Years Before the Mast · Chapter
XVIII explained
The chapter describes the crew's experiences at San Pedro, San Juan, and San Diego.
What happens
The chapter describes the crew's experiences at San Pedro, San Juan, and San Diego. It contrasts American and Spanish boat songs, recounts a near-collision with a whale, and details the dramatic process of throwing hides down a 400-foot cliff at San Juan. The chapter ends with the arrival at San Diego, where the harbor is deserted except for a group of Sandwich Islanders living idly in an abandoned oven.
Themes in this chapter
Labor and Economy
The hide droghing at San Juan illustrates the dangerous and physically demanding labor involved in the hide trade, central to California's economy.
Isolation and Longing
The narrator experiences a rare moment of solitude at San Juan, reflecting on the romantic and poetic feelings that had been dulled by his laborious life.
Cultural Encounter and Otherness
The contrast between American and Spanish boat songs highlights cultural differences, and the Sandwich Islanders' idle carnival at San Diego presents a distinct cultural scene.
Characters to notice
- Richard Henry Dana Jr.
Reflects on the beauty of San Juan and the romance of hide droghing; later goes down the cliff by halyards to retrieve lodged hides.
- Captain Thompson
Steers the gig during the whale encounter and orders the crew to throw hides down the cliff at San Juan.
- Captain Nye
Mentioned as having been in a whaleship and considering an attempt on a whale with the narrator's captain.
Key passages
“For the tired slave, song lifts the languid oar, And bids it aptly fall, with chime That beautifies the fairest shore, And mitigates the harshest clime.”
Song makes rowing easier and more pleasant for the weary worker, brightening even the most difficult surroundings.
The narrator uses this verse to emphasize how Spanish boat songs improved morale and labor efficiency compared to the silent American approach.
“What a sight, thought I, must this be in a southeaster! The rocks were as large as those of Nahant or Newport, but, to my eye, more grand and broken.”
The narrator imagines how dramatic the scene would appear during a storm, finding the rocks more impressive than those at familiar New England locations.
Reflects the narrator's appreciation for the wild, romantic landscape of San Juan.
“Down this height we pitched the hides, throwing them as far out into the air as we could; and as they were all large, stiff, and doubled, like the cover of a book, the wind took them, and they swayed and eddied about, plunging and rising in the air, like a kite when it has broken its string.”
The crew threw stiff, folded hides off the cliff, and the wind caused them to flutter and dive like a kite with a broken string.
Describes the dramatic and picturesque method of transporting hides from the cliff top to the beach below.