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[158] chapter 17 The Troublesome Crew of the Lucy Ann For my own part, I felt that I was under a foreign flag; that an English consul was close at hand, and that sailors seldom obtain justice. It was best to be prudent. Still, so much did I sympathize with the men, so far, at least, as their real grievances were concerned; and so convinced was I of the cruelty and injustice of what Captain Guy seemed bent upon, that if need were, I stood ready to raise a hand. —Omoo, Chapter 20 Five months after he sailed on a whaling voyage in the barque Lucy Ann of Sydney, Australia, Captain Henry Ventom lost ascendancy over the rebellious crew and had to appeal to external authority for aid in restoring order. The small and well-seasoned whaler—87 feet, 7 inches long; 23 feet, 10 inches wide; only 5 feet, 3 inches between decks; almost 214 tons burthen; and built a merchantman in the year of Melville’s birth—left Sydney on February 14, 1842.1 She carried a ship’s company of about thirty-one officers and men,2 enough to lower four boats, and had a roving commission that allowed her mariners to hunt whales, seals, “or other animals or substances or articles.”3 For a short time at least the voyage proceeded prosperously and without any notable discord. Sailing to the eastward, the Australian whalemen were lucky enough to capture 60 barrels of sperm oil during the first month at sea,4 and they may have stowed down an additional 60 barrels before the first cruise was over.5 They had worked their way along the Line nearly to 125° west by June 27, when they spoke the barque Columbus of New Bedford, Captain Tristram D. Pease.The record of this meeting of rival whalers contains no hint of friction aboard the Lucy Ann; nothing is mentioned except a transaction in which the Americans bought “Peas Powder and Paint.”6 It was after this cruise,when he brought the Lucy Ann to a recruiting port,that Captain Ventom’s competence as a whaling master was first seriously put to the test. Boats of the warship L’Embuscade on July 7,1842,towed the Lucy Ann into Resolution Bay at Santa Christina (Tahuata), one of the Marquesas Islands. Told that he should announce to the French commandant his reasons for bringing the craft to anchor, Captain Ventom went ashore and sought out the colonial headquarters at Vaitahu. As Captain E. Halley later recalled it, The Troublesome Crew of the Lucy Ann   [159] the Australian whaling master’s tone and manner were at first very impertinent , perhaps because he resented having to explain himself or because the residence of the French officer was not sufficiently prepossessing to convince him that he was addressing an important island official.7 Despite Captain Ventom’s cheeky attitude—one that would hardly have endeared him to a company of whalemen—Commandant Halley granted him permission to trade with Chief Youtali and his tribesmen and offered the services of the French establishment. For about ten days the men of the Lucy Ann took on board in an orderly fashion wood, water, pigs, and other refreshments.Then trouble began to brew. In attempting to explain events of the stay in port, James German, first mate of the Lucy Ann, was (or pretended to be) at a loss to account for the behavior of the mariners.They “had good and plenty of provisions,good treatment and liberty time while in port,” he later testified.8 Even so, either they were an exceedingly villainous and insubordinate group, or there must have been some provocation for their actions. Officers of whale ships who were dissatisfied with their lot usually chose to be honorably discharged; Gabriel King, second mate of the Lucy Ann, deserted.9 Carpenter John Murray and five of the foremast hands deserted too, stealing a whaleboat on July 18 and carrying with them the carpentry tools of the barque.10 Two other men ran away at about the same time.11 With almost one third of his crew suddenly gone, Captain Ventom, in a more becoming spirit of humility, called upon the French commandant for help. Believing that his deserters had found refuge at Hanamenu Bay on the nearby island of La Dominica (Hiva Oa), he asked the French naval officer to institute a search in that direction. Captain Halley sent his official boat there on...

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