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In "Two Years Before the Mast," Richard Henry Dana created an American classic. In 1834, the 19-year-old Harvard student signed on as a deck hand for a trader's ship leaving Massachusetts. For the next two years he experienced a sailor's rugged life, visiting Mexico's California territory a full 15 years before it became a U.S. state. Dana later published his journal of the voyage, including fascinating impressions of villages that would later become thriving California metropolises - like Santa Barbara, Monterey, Long Beach, and San Diego. His matter-of-fact style preserves a unique moment in American history, and offers an unforgettable glimpse at life in the 19th century.

The everyday details of his journey are surprisingly vivid. On their first week at sea, they spot a pirate ship, and must outrun it on a moonless night. Dolphins follow the ship as it heads for Cape Horn. The Captain's patience is tried by a lazy first mate who refuses to watch for icebergs. And when a man falls overboard, the captain must assure the crew that a thorough search was conducted.

One of my favorite stories recalls the way his captain was embarrassed upon entering San Diego harbor. Captain Thompson had underestimated his momentum, and nearly crashed his vessel into one of the other ships lying at anchor. Later when paying a visit to that ship, their captain teased his mate with a question. "Has he brought his brig with him?"

Dana felt he was capturing the hardship of life at sea. He records a petty quarrel which escalates into the flogging of two men. The spirits of both men are damaged in different ways, and the crew realizes they have no recourse. Dana ultimately transfers to a different vessel to make an earlier return home, and even then he'll spend nearly two full years living at sea.

But he also captures some amazing stories about life in a forgotten era. In San Diego harbor, he spots two Hawaiians who catch a shark on their fishing line. Though it breaks the line, the determined fishermen wade into the shallow water and grab the shark by its tail, dragging it onto the beach. The angry shark twists his head to point his fearsome teeth towards his tormenters, and then flops his way back to the ocean. Amazingly, the Hawaiians again rushed in and grabbed his tail, dragging the hapless shark back onto the beach.

Life was very different in the early 1830s - and so was California. Dana sees the adobe huts of Monterey, and the clay beaches south of what would become Los Angeles. ("We all agreed that it was the worst place we had seen yet.") He visits the mission in San Diego and rides horseback through Santa Barbara. But along the way, he inadvertently creates a rich historical record for the generations yet to come.

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