The Cruise of the Cachalot

[Ships_Cat]

I recently very much enjoyed reading The Cruise of the Cachalot - Round the World After Sperm Whales by Frank T. Bullen. Found it intriguing and is maybe something others interested in nautical books may enjoy but have not yet come across (I don't think I have seen it mentioned in lists of recommended books that appear on the forum from time to time??). Found it far more interesting and easier to read than than the factual Two Years Before the Mast or the novel Moby Dick, for example.

Is the narrative of an 18 year old Englishman (who first went to sea at age 12) who signs up for a cruise an an American Whaler in the 19th Century. A few little bits seem a bit exaggerated but is partly set in areas I know and that all stacks up, so maybe all is correct in it.

Will have those who judge our ancestors by todays standards and whale huggers all frothing at the mouth (which must be a recommendation) but it just states things as they were.

Does not seem to be readily available in print but the eBook is available in a number of places including Blackmask Online (at http://www.blackmask.com) in a number of eBook formats.

Slay me if you have already read it and regard it as tedious, but cats read all sorts of rubbish without recognising it as such /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

John

 

[john_morris_uk]

Is it the one where they end up shipwrecked and think that they can't go to one set of Pacific Islands because they will be eaten - land on another where there's no water and end up eating each other? Cheerful book, but I enjoyed it if that's the one.

 

[Ships_Cat]

No not the same book John.

Apart from the odd crew member getting killed in accidents they depart New Bedford, down around Africa, whaling grounds in Indian Ocean, Asian waters, the Pacific and Southern Ocean then home to New Bedford around Cape Horn in the same ship.

John

 

[graham]

If you enjoyed that try the "Sea wolf" by Jack London (If my memory serves me correctly)

Its about an educated American writer rescued after a ships collision by a schooner with a mad Captain who forces him to sign on for the voyage and earn his keep.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Hi Graham

Yes I have read Jack London's The Sea Wolf and agree that it is well worth a read.

It is the only sea story of his I have read though, so you have prompted me to look at some of the others (The Mutiny of the Elsinore, The Human Drift, South Sea Tales, etc). Many I think are still available in print (my Sea Wolf is a Pelican), but they are all free on Blackmask Online, and others, as eBooks so will grab some today.

Thanks

John