Two Years Before the Mast
Richard Henry Dana, Jr.
Lu par LibriVox Volunteers





While there are many books upon the subject of sea life, there are few that can compare with Two Years Before the Mast. It is the story of a sailor's life from the forecastle, not a captain, nor a passenger, but a regular hand. The book was a great favorite with the jack tar of Dana's day, and two thousand copies are said to have been sold to Liverpool sailors in a single day. Even those who haven't the faintest idea what reefing topsail is, or which is starboard and which larboard, will find it an engaging story of an era long past told in simple narrative style. (Summary by BethAnne)
Dedicated Proof-Listener: Gesine & Rapunzelina
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Jc Guan & TriciaG
(17 hr 41 min)
Chapitres
Preface | 5:10 | Lu par BethAnne |
Departure | 5:48 | Lu par BethAnne |
First Impressions | 16:21 | Lu par BethAnne |
Ship's Duties | 14:14 | Lu par BethAnne |
Sundays At Sea | 18:40 | Lu par BethAnne |
Cape Horn | 23:41 | Lu par BethAnne |
Loss of a Man | 12:19 | Lu par BethAnne |
Juan Fernandez | 16:55 | Lu par BethAnne |
Daily Life | 14:00 | Lu par BethAnne |
Santa Barbra | 20:21 | Lu par BethAnne |
A South Easter | 11:37 | Lu par BethAnne |
Passage Up the Coast | 13:12 | Lu par BethAnne |
Monterey | 7:33 | Lu par BethAnne |
Trading At Monterey | 27:01 | Lu par BethAnne |
Discontent | 32:00 | Lu par BethAnne |
Flogging, Part 1 | 19:57 | Lu par BethAnne |
Flogging, Part 2 | 18:28 | Lu par BethAnne |
Liberty Day on Shore | 21:03 | Lu par BethAnne |
San Diego | 19:37 | Lu par BethAnne |
Easter Sunday, Part 1 | 19:27 | Lu par BethAnne |
Easter Sunday, Part 2 | 17:27 | Lu par BethAnne |
Sandwich-Islanders, Part 1 | 20:05 | Lu par BethAnne |
Sandwich-Islanders, Part 2 | 19:58 | Lu par BethAnne |
New Comers | 23:07 | Lu par BethAnne |
California and its Inhabitants | 15:40 | Lu par BethAnne |
The Alert | 16:22 | Lu par BethAnne |
New Ship and Shipmates, Part 1 | 25:53 | Lu par BethAnne |
New Ship and Shipmates, Part 2 | 23:50 | Lu par BethAnne |
San Diego Again | 19:20 | Lu par BethAnne |
Rumours of War, Part 1 | 23:10 | Lu par BethAnne |
Rumours of War, Part 2 | 21:56 | Lu par BethAnne |
San Francisco | 22:25 | Lu par BethAnne |
A Fandango | 28:11 | Lu par BethAnne |
News From Home | 35:07 | Lu par BethAnne |
Loading for Home, Part 1 | 24:48 | Lu par BethAnne |
Loading for Home, Part 2 | 34:34 | Lu par BethAnne |
Homeward Bound | 32:29 | Lu par BethAnne |
Bad Prospects, Part 1 | 29:18 | Lu par BethAnne |
Bad Prospects, Part 2 | 30:58 | Lu par BethAnne |
Doubling Cape Horn | 29:05 | Lu par BethAnne |
Northward Ho! | 28:15 | Lu par BethAnne |
Nearing Home | 20:55 | Lu par BethAnne |
More Stirring Incidents | 24:43 | Lu par BethAnne |
Hurrah for Yankee Land! | 24:29 | Lu par BethAnne |
Original Concluding Chapter, Part 1 | 23:46 | Lu par BethAnne |
Original Concluding Chapter, Part 2 | 25:20 | Lu par BethAnne |
Epilogue, Part 1 | 30:47 | Lu par BethAnne |
Epilogue, Part 2 | 27:48 | Lu par TriciaG |
Epilogue Part 3 | 24:22 | Lu par TriciaG |
Critiques





Zach s
I really liked her voice. She is smart and the story is great!. This story will explain everything that went on aboard a Sailing vessel back in the old days haha.
I feel as if I've been there





Fish sticks
All the descriptive detail leaves one feeling as if they were there. Daily journal entries highlight the unrelenting respect for authority required by everyman under the captain for survival. Day after day cowling and succumbing to unrelenting work schedules and lack of sleep.The shipmates supreme luxury being a full nights sleep. This book is true food for the soul for anyone with any salt in their blood. One can feel the excitement of the return home and the completion of the task. Conclusions and epilogues highlight the interest in returning to California shortly after and seeing tremendous change. Magnificent, worth the second read. Ahoy Dana, if you hear me, Bravo and thank you. The sticks
Excellent! We're not worthy, wonderful volunteers





Vivia
Thanks, most enjoyable addition to the archives!





Brian Cooper
The reader for the content of the book was overall great! However...when I came to the epilogue two and three, I was incensed to hear an AI voice reading. It will NEVER be able to replace a human. It has not the voice inflection nor emotion to be capable to do this!! Please do not allow this on your site. It is a dumbing down of humanity to allow this to go on.
Decent Recording





Eric Sillers
A compelling history, complete with contemporary social commentary, read with great spirit and good inflection. A few common English words are consistently mispronounced, the Latin could be a more clearly enunciated, but most of all the recording is a bit soft and the epilog needs to be revisited by the original reader (please!)
A Classic - and true - Sea Story





Dennis
A classic tale of life on a sailing ship from the perspective of a common seaman. Really really good. Although I initially questioned that such a work would be read by a woman, she was an excellent reader and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her. Well done...
A true classic. It hasn't lost any appeal in 180 years.





Twelve Winds
I don't get the bad reviews. BethAnne put a lot of effort into this reading including some dramatic reading of dialogue. A soothing voice and cute accent add to the enjoyment too. I would listen to it over again.
Great story, fun audio technique





A LibriVox Listener
I enjoyed this reading quite a bit, and the history was fascinating. In particular, I appreciated the effort and technique the reader used when changing the audio for a quoted command or response of a sailor. Thank you!