Name/Title
Log of TYBEEEntry/Object ID
2012.111Scope and Content
Whaling log for TYBEE, July 1841-October 1843
"A classic whaling log from the American Whale Ship TYBEE, a 299-ton vessel out of Stonington CT that was owned by John F. Trumbull and was under the command of Captain Swan when she set sail on July 16, 1841. Headed toward the southeast Atlantic, then round Cape Horn on to the Indian Ocean. The ship would proceed to the waters off New Zealand and Australia, and then voyage back the route she came, arriving off Fishers Island NY on October 23, 1843.
"Whomever recorded the voyage, Captain Swan or an official clerk or navigator, their hand is quite legible and includes a significant number of whale and tail fluke sketches [in pencil], with notations on the number of creatures caught and barrels of oil produced. The log contains a healthy dose of the regular recordings of speed, wind direction, and a semi-regularly held longitude and latitude as most logs do. There are acccounts of fighting amongst the crew and a near-mutiny in February 1843. Amongst the many quatable passages - almost all written phonetically rather than true - the author records Captain Swan's orders to Charles Williams, a prisoner shipped on to work off fines, who wouldn't follow orders. When they tried to put him in irons, he was too large to fit. Eventually he tood to his duty on the ovens, but wouldn't lower away in a boat under orders, so Swan had special handcuffs made for him."
Description taken from page supplied by seller, Vallejo Gallery, Newport Beach CACollection
Transportation Documents - Whaling