At the age of nineteen, Robert F. Weir of West Point, New York, ran away to sea, where he spent the next ten years of his life. Assuming the pseudonym Robert Wallace, Weir sailed aboard the bark Clara Bell out of New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1855 for a voyage to the whaling grounds of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Upon the death of one of the Clara Bell‘s boatsteerers (harpooners), Weir was promoted to this position of great responsibility. Recording daily events aboard the Clara Bell over the course of nearly three years, from 1855 to 1858, Weir’s journal vividly relates the whaleman’s life, both in prose and in detailed hand-drawn illustrations.
This is a timeless account of life on a nineteenth-century whaler, from the misery of seasickness and the rigors of sea voyages; to the thrill and violence of whale hunts; to the sights, sounds, and foods of foreign cultures. The Weir journal is a staff favorite at Mystic Seaport Museum for its compelling story, beautiful illustrations, and immaculate penmanship. Andrew W. German is former director of Mystic Seaport Museum’s Publications Department