Analysis Of Dana's Two Years Before The Mast

For the duration of the voyage to the elusive California coast, Richard Henry Dana was nineteen years old, working as a sailor aboard the Pilgram, engaged in the hide and tallow trade. Dana was an elite member of the upper class. As a student at Harvard, he became infected with a case of the measles that left him with a painful eye condition. Dana then began his career at sea as a sailor and set off from Boston around Cape Horn to the coast of California. Throughout his voyage, Dana kept a journal of his sixteen month adventure.

In 1840, Dana's Two Years Before the Mast was published, based on his diaries. It contains an in depth account of life on the California coast, territory of the Mexican government, a decade before the Gold Rush had