Brown, Alfred B.: [Cook, Nathan H.]:

$11,000 · Offered by William Reese Company

JUNE THE 23rd AD 1832 JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE TRISTAN DA CUNNAH (i.e. CUNHA) ISLANDS FOR THE SHIP PORTLAND OF NEW BURGH N. COOK MASTER...[manuscript ... A well-illustrated and engaging log of the whaling ship Portland out of Newburgh, New York, and its travels to the south Atlantic, in particular the island of Tristan da Cunha and Cape Town, recorded by Alfred Brown, likely a mate. Although Brown claims ownership of this log, with several signatures and annotations throughout, the style is very similar to a log kept by the captain, Nathan H. Cook, back when he was a young mate aboard the Thames, though in a different hand (Cook also kept his own log of this voyage, which is now at the Nantucket Historical Association). Brown dutifully records the wind, weather, and location, lists duties going on aboard ship, and describes other ships or whales spotted. His hand is fairly clear, and along with drawings of the islands they visit and whale stamps, he embellishes the pages with a number of pen flourishes and ornamental devices. The log begins with their departure: "Saturday June the 23rd AD 1832. 1. At 10 AM got under weigh from our moorage in New York bay...."Following a relatively smooth journey south for the first month, they crossed the Tropic of Cancer on July 26, and by the afternoon of July 28, spied their first "School of Sperm whales...." They lowered the boats and succeeded in capturing and killing one. Overnight and into the next day, they "commenced...cutting our

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