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6 The Bliss journal andrews Breed and the minority owners were impressed with the Badger’s “catch,” for they appointed augustus n. Perkins commander of the Badger’s next voyage, once again to the Western australia grounds. George Bliss— henry Bonney’s new Bedford neighbor—was promoted from second mate to first mate.The captain’s son had been cabin boy on the first voyage and joined his father again for the second cruise.taking both voyages into account,Bliss and the two Perkinses had an association with the William Badger—seven years and seven months each—which exceeded that of anyone else during the ship’s life.1 it is not known what happened to boatsteerer Boyington,who had caused so much trouble on the first voyage. he may have disappeared into the nearest saloon after receiving his lay—his percentage share of the oil profits. as a non-officer, he would not have been entitled to much, since only the captain , officers, and owners truly profited from whaling, and even then only if the voyage returned with enough oil. Prior to his two trips on the Badger, George Bliss was an officer on the 1842–44 whaling voyage of the bark Theophilus Chase, master Daniel Baker. Bliss and Baker must have remained friends beyond their whaling days because Baker somehow ended up with Bliss’s journal of the 1849–53 voyage of the William Badger. The journal was donated to the kendall institute at the new Bedford Whaling museum by john Blatchford, who was the greatgrandson of captain Baker.2 similar to the case with henry m.Bonney,we can glean a few details about Bliss’s personality from his writing.he notes his birthday several times in his journal, so we can pinpoint his birthdate as june 20, 1814, which meant he was thirty-five years old at the start of this voyage.Bliss was much less devout than Bonney: there are no references to God or religion. also, Bliss’s journal is much more structured and organized than Bonney’s,and his spelling is less phonetic and more accurate, indicating a strong basic education. his script is Bliss journal / 49 neat,he uses double horizontal dividing lines between daily entries,and he inserts a large square in the upper left corner with a heading for the day’s chief highlight,such as “cloudy,”“Grampus’s,”names of punished sailors,or whale stamps. his journal is much like an official log, but there are a couple distinguishing characteristics. first, officer Bliss had a rather cheeky sense of humor. on many of his whale stamps, he drew a bubble out of the whale’s mouth, with remarks like “catch me if you can” and “That lance is troublesome.” second, at the end of his journal Bliss jotted down poems, lists of books, and various maxims and home remedies (“antidote against poison—mustard mixed with warm water”). The poem Ben Bolt by Thomas Dunn english is listed, as is the sea shanty The Sailor’s Farewell, although Bliss titled it The Sailor-Boy’s Farewell.3 Ben Bolt was published in 1843, and by the time of the Badger’s second whale cruise it had become a fairly popular song. sea shanties like The Sailor’s Farewell were similar to Deep south plantation “field hollers.”They arose spontaneously with one or two laborers then were taken up by everybody.sailors broke into sea shanties while heaving up a halyard or pulling against an anchor’s hold.The men would exhale in rhythm and eventually add grunts,then words and a tune.The shanties had two beats to the measure, a baritone solo, and a rhyming chorus.The singing served to alleviate tedium and homesickness.4 among the books listed by Bliss at the end of his journal is Moby-Dick. melville’s masterpiece was not published in the united states until 1851, which means Bliss added it to his journal soon after returning home. Post-voyage scribbling was not unusual, as whaling journals were as common as scrimshaw in new england seaside homes and were often used by whalers, and even their wives and children, as convenient scribbling pads.5 The listing of Moby-Dick, however, is revealing. upon its publication, Moby-Dick received mixed reviews by critics and was roundly ignored by the general public. its heavy symbolism and dark metaphysics proved inscrutable to readers hoping for another south sea adventure like melville’s breakthrough novel Typee. indeed...

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