Two Years Before the Mast · Chapter
XXIV explained
The chapter describes the crew's return to San Diego, their hurried departure amid signs of a southeaster, and the narrator's risky descent down a cliff to retrieve lodged hides.
What happens
The chapter describes the crew's return to San Diego, their hurried departure amid signs of a southeaster, and the narrator's risky descent down a cliff to retrieve lodged hides. It also introduces a new shipmate, George P. Marsh, an educated Englishman with a mysterious past.
Themes in this chapter
Hardship and Endurance
The crew endures a dangerous gale, heavy surf, and the physical challenge of unloading boats and retrieving hides from a cliff.
Class and Social Inequality
George P. Marsh's hidden education and refined abilities contrast with his life as a common sailor, highlighting lost social standing and the vagaries of class.
Labor and Economy
The chapter details the grueling work of hide-carrying, boat handling, and the economic pressures of collecting forty thousand hides to leave California.
Characters to notice
- Richard Henry Dana Jr.
Volunteers to descend a cliff to retrieve hides, reflecting his blend of lightness and strength; also reflects on his pride in taking a weather earing.
- George P. Marsh
Newly shipped English hand; speaks French, writes elegantly, and shows knowledge of law and Parliament, hinting at a higher education despite his claimed smuggler background.
- Tom Harris
Mentioned in comparison to Marsh; Harris is portrayed as self-made, having developed his mind and character despite obstacles.
- Captain Thompson
Orders the crew to board the main tack and heave in on the chain during the gale; determined not to slip anchor despite heavy seas.
Key passages
“The great sail bellied out horizontally as though it would lift up the main stay; the blocks rattled and flew about; but the force of machinery was too much for her.”
The mainsail bulged outward with tremendous force, as if it might tear the rigging apart, but the mechanical power of the windlass and the crew's strength gradually overcame it.
Describes the intense physical effort required to set the main course during a gale.
“I got down in safety, pretty well covered with dirt; and for my pains was told, 'What a d⸺d fool you were to risk your life for a half a dozen hides!'”
I descended safely, though filthy, and was rebuked for endangering myself over so few hides.
Highlights the narrator's willingness to take risks and the crew's pragmatic view of such efforts.
“He called himself George P. Marsh; professed to have been at sea from a small boy, and to have served his time in the smuggling trade between Germany and the coasts of France and England.”
He went by George P. Marsh and claimed to have spent his childhood at sea, apprenticed in smuggling along the German, French, and English coasts.
Introduces the mysterious new crew member and his dubious background.