Stove by a Whale: Owen Chase and the Essex

B: The Story of the Essex Shipwreck Presented in Captain Pollard's Interview with George Bennet

Appendix B THE STORY OF THE ESSEX SHIPWRECK PRESENTED IN CAPTAIN POLLARD'S INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE BENNET Daniel Tyerman and George Bennet, who had been sent by the London Missionary Society to survey Pacific and far eastern missions, relate that they had been visiting the Leeward Group of the Society Islands northwest of Tahiti in April 1823 and on April 16 (possibly an error, for they refer to the next day also as April 16) had crossed over from Bora Bora to Raiatea, the largest island in the group. Captain Pollard, whose second shipwreck had occurred two months before, was at the time a passenger on board the U.S. brig Pearl, which had tied up at Raiatea. Here Bennet met Pollard and heard the account of the shipwreck which he put down in his Journal of Voyages and Travels by the Rev. Daniel Tyerman and George Bennet, Esq. Deputed from the London Missionary Society, to Visit Their Various Stations in the South Sea Islands, China, India, &c. between the Years 1821 and 1829. (London: Frederick Westley & A. H. Davis, 1831, 2 vols.; Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1832, 3 vols.). James Montgomery, the editor, added a long footnote quoting from Thomas Chapple's account, which footnote is here omitted since Chapple's full account is given in Appendix C. Some discrepancies between Pollard's account and Owen Chase's (for example, Pollard witnessing the whale's attack) will strike the reader but are understandable corruptions in the light of the retellings. The text of the American edition is followed below except for 212 APPENDIX B the final paragraph, which appeared in the British edition only; apart from that paragraph, the two editions differ only in minor matters of spelling and punctuation. The passage below is from 2:22-30 of the British edition, 2: 170-73 of the American. April 16. In the harbor here, we found the American brig Pearl, captain Chandler, which had put in for repairs, having sprung a leak at sea; and on board of this vessel, to our great joy and surprise , we met with our friends, Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain, from the Sandwich Islands. We never expected to have seen their faces again in this world. They were, however, for reasons which we had known and approved when we parted with them, on their return with their young family to America. They gave us the most gratifying account of the safe arrival and cordial reception of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, at Oahu, by our American missionary friends there, by the king also, the chiefs, and the people-all of whom rejoiced to welcome them as servants of the Most High God, arrived among them to teach a nation, without any religion, the only doctrines under heaven worthy of that name. There were three captains on board this brig, as passengers to America. The ships of two of these had been wrecked, and that of the third condemned. One of them was captain George Pollard, whose singular and lamentable story, in the case of a former shipwreck (as nearly as can be recollected by Mr. Bennet), deserves to be recorded in his own manner. It was substantially as follows:- "My first shipwreck was in open sea, on the 20th of November, 1820, near the equator, about 1180 W. long. The vessel, a South Sea whaler, was called the Essex. On that day, as we were on the look out for sperm whales, and had actually struck two, which the boats' crews were following to secure, I perceived a very large one-it might be eighty or ninety feet long-rushing with great swiftness through the water, right towards the ship. We hoped that she would turn aside, and dive under, when she perceived such a balk in her way. But no! the animal came full force against our stern-port: had any quarter less firm been struck, the vessel must have been burst; as it was, every plank and timber trembled, throughout her whole bulk. APPENDIX B 213 "The whale, as though hurt by a severe and unexpected concussion , shook its enormous head, and sheered off to so considerable a distance, that for some time we had lost sight of her from the starboard quarter; of which we were very glad, hoping that the worst was over. Nearly an hour afterwards, we saw the same fish-we had no doubt of this, from her size, and the...