Logbook, Whaling Bark <I>Virginia</I> of New Bedford
date: label: date made
content: 1840
notes: label: Description
content: This logbook chronicles six months of a whaling voyage to the Pacific whaling grounds by the bark <i>Virginia</I> of New Bedford, Mass. The voyage began in late August 1840.
label: Description
content: Most official ship logbooks record wind, weather, and sail changes, directions and ports reached and cleared. This one was filled with extra details and a few drawings by its keeper, Thomas M. Peakes. On 16 December 1840, two whales were caught and processed. The figures inside the whale stamps for those events show the number of barrels of oil taken from each whale. The last word, “Amanda,” reveals the writer’s homesickness. Her name appears often, as do the words “home sweet home.”
label: Description
content: On 31 January 1841, crewman Henry N. North fell overboard and almost perished before being rescued. Towards the end of March 1841, log keeper Peakes was injured himself and had to go ashore at Talcahuano, Chile. <i>Virginia</I>’s ship’s log ended here, after noting that a kindly local widow took Peakes into her home to help him regain his health. After a three-week recovery, Peakes shipped out for home on the whaler <I>Montano</I>.
topic: label: Subject
content: Fishing
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Fisheries
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
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content: Natural Resources
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content: Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Thomas M. Peakes
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AG.056866
label: catalog number
content: 56866
label: accession number
content: 2009.0183
label: accession number
content: 12306
objectType: label: Object Name
content: logbook
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 1/2 in x 8 in x 5/8 in; 31.75 cm x 20.32 cm x 1.5875 cm