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Originally published in the Historic Nantucket, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Summer 1997)

Views from the Ship Nauticon – One Woman’s Journal
By Cecil Barron Jensen

[Extracts from the journal are faithful to original spelling, grammar, and punctuation.]

IN 1995 THE FRIENDS OF THE NANTUCKET Historical Association purchased a journal of the whaleship Nauticon. The captain's wife, Susan Veeder, filled the journal with gentle watercolors and careful penmanship as she chronicled a voyage that was to last almost five years of her life — from September 1848 to March 1853. Beyond the repetitive notations of wind and weather, Mrs. Veeder takes contemporary readers back in time and allows us to witness her life at sea with all of its joys, hardship, and discoveries.

Traveling with Mrs. Veeder and her husband, Captain Charles A. Veeder, were their sons whom Mrs. Veeder refers to as "the boys." [The Veeders had three sons — Charles, George, and David — but it is unclear if all three sons joined the family on the Nauticon.] On the first few pages, a reader may wonder if Mrs. Veeder and her boys were up to the challenge of the voyage as they appeared to be suffering from seasickness. In fact, Mrs. Veeder reported that "I think that if I could of got on shore I should of given up the voyage for I was very sick." But as things turned out Mrs. Veeder was of hardy stock as she rarely lapsed into self-pity or doubt for the remainder of the voyage and, indeed, withstood many great challenges.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of the voyage was the birth and subsequent death of the Veeders' baby girl. After cruising south around Cape Horn, the Nauticon went into port in Talcahuano, Chile, in January 1849. Here the Veeders were invited to stay with the family of the consul, Mr. Crosby, for the remainder of the pregnancy. Mrs. Veeder reported that her husband planned to stay in Talcahuano for one month while the ship went back out to sea under the care of Mr. Archer. "Captn is in a hury to get the ship out - for it is a very bad place for men they has two deserted." Shortly after their arrival at the Crosbys', Mrs. Veeder delivered the baby: "Nothing of any note occured untill the 29th and then I was confined with a fine daughter weighing 9 Ibs which was very pleasing to us both." Eighteen days later the ship was back in port and the captain decided to go back out to sea for "four or five weeks" and leave Mrs. Veeder with the Crosbys: "to day the wind is fair at 2 ock the Captn and boys left me and the ship went out to sea and am left alone." Not happy by herself in Talcahuano, Mrs. Veeder wrote: "I feel quit feeble to be left among Strangers" and "I feel very lonesome." Despite feeling lonely, Mrs. Veeder and the baby grew healthy in the absence of their family and on March 23 the ship returned to port and they prepared to head back to sea.

Over the next months, Mrs. Veeder wrote occasionally about the baby — mostly about her growth and charming nature. On December 31, 1849, she wrote "Mary Frances is 11 months old has 7 teeth creeps all about the ship and is very cunning She is now on deck taking a ride on his wagon." Sadly, though, in Tahiti on March 5, 1850, Mrs. Veeder wrote "tuesday morning our babe did not seem very well." Guessing that she was teething and wishing to leave Tahiti the next day, the Veeders decided to take the baby to a doctor and have her gums lanced. The doctor said the baby was fine but had a cold. He prescribed a powder. That night the baby grew very sick; "at 3 oclock in the morning She was taken convulsed and we very soon see that they was no hope for her recovery, we sent amedially for a phisician and every thing was done that could be done but all in vain she was poisned no doubt by takeing the second powder what can be done what can be done was all that we could say the thoat of loseing our babe was more than we could bear to think of She was a fine child to good to live, and at 11 oclock AM she breathed her last." The thought of leaving the child in Tahiti was out of the question: "we must take her with us away, so we have had a lead coffin made and the corps embalmed to take home with us." On March 7, Mrs. Veeder wrote "today we have had the remains of our little one taken on board and we are ready for sea."

The child and her death were never mentioned again in the journal. Instead, Mrs. Veeder continued to chart the course of the Nauticon as it traveled through the Pacific in search of whales. The whaling voyage was Mrs. Veeder's first, and she wrote about the hunting of whales with great interest. Coming upon a dead sperm whale afloat in the ocean, she commented on the smell and wrote that she hopes they all do not smell as bad. When they do catch their first sperm whale, however, she simply remarked that it was her first and from that point on she was caught up in the chase and the rewards of whaling. There were also the frustrations of whaling; on August 4, 1850, Mrs. Veeder wrote that it had been six months since they have even seen a sperm whale so she declared she "put away my book and hope the next time i write we shall have more oil." Amazingly, Mrs. Veeder wrote that they caught a sperm whale the very next day!

Mrs. Veeder wrote not only of the whales caught but also of those that got away. The details of each chase, even when the whales went too fast or slipped under ice, were chronicled. It is clear that she reflected the highs and lows of the crew in their pursuit of whales. When one was caught, Mrs. Veeder reported on the amount of time the men spent in their chase, once the whale boats were lowered, and on the time spent cutting and boiling. Each account was concluded with a tally of the barrels stored.

For Mrs. Veeder it was also a voyage of discovery. The whaleship traveled from port to port, island to island, and sea to sea. At each location, Mrs. Veeder gives us her impressions with words and with paintings. Her watercolors are among the most beautiful journal illustrations in the NHA's possession. She captured the colors of the South Pacific, revealing to us what the island harbors looked like in the mid-nineteenth century. She also painted whaleships at anchor, allowing us to imagine the impact of the gigantic ships on the islanders' horizon. Mrs. Veeder also wrote of her visits to shore and her impressions of what she saw, both good and bad. On September 4, f 849, she wrote this description of Tombez: "about all that is to be seen is a few bamboo houses and a lot of half naked children." Pitcairn, in April 1850, left her with a more favorable impression: "About 4 PM we went to the house of Fletcher Christians and their we stoped we had not been their many minutes before the house was full of People every one in the place came to see me I think they are the kindest people I have ever meet with." Upon leaving the island, after three days, she wrote "they all got together and collected many things Some Fowl, others oranges and coconuts and some other things, they all folowed us down to the boat and wated our departure we had the pleasure of naming a little one while their, son of henry and Albina Young, the number of Residents is 164."

In the summer of 1851 the ship went north to the Arctic. Up above the Fox Islands, Mrs. Veeder wrote of her encounters with natives who paddled to the ship in canoes. Her entry of June 26 reads: "two canoes came along side with about 30 natives they brought a few fish and teeth and some skins to sell they apear to be very harmles and honest all they wanted was tobaco needles and knives."

Her adventure in the far north, however, turned out to be of a natural kind. On June 30 she wrote "Monday this morning we have had the misfortune to get our ship in the ice we let go the anchor in 25
fathoms waiter but it did not stop her the ice is coming down very fast." On July 3 "we made all sail on the Ship in hopes that we could start her a little but she would not move the ice is Close to her when we shall get away from here I know not." Despite the restless crew's efforts, the ship was stuck in the ice for thirteen days. One highlight of the misadventure was the spotting of a polar bear on July 9: "At Eight Oclock this morning we saw a white bear close to the Ship, but his hearing a noise he started of the other way very quick." Finally, on July 11, the men were able to cut the ice around the ship and haul it into floating ice and on July 12 they were back in clear water again "to the great joy of all on board."

Other intriguing discoveries for Mrs. Veeder included the finding of shipwrecks. On June 27, 1850, Mrs. Veeder announced that they spotted a wreck lying on a reef: "the Captain went to her and found it to be the Lafayett of Newbedford." Captain Veeder and his crew worked with Captain Sisson and men of the ship Callas to see what the wreck held. Aside from the abandoned ship, they found thirteen members of the crew stranded on an island. For the next four days the men worked on the wreck and helped themselves to one hundred and twenty barrels of oil for each ship and other things such as bread, flour, sails, iron, spears, and rigging. The Nauticon shipped four of the shipwrecked men, took two more to Chatham Island, off the coast of Chile, and one more man was kept on the Nauticon because he was too sick to be left behind. Along the journey, Mrs. Veeder occasionally announced the sighting of other wrecks or reported on the news of ships that were lost. At the end of the voyage they took home four survivors of a bark that was lost in the Rio de la Platta. Clearly, part of the challenge of being at sea was avoiding shoals, reefs, and other natural hazards.

Mrs. Veeder also commented on daily life on board the Nauticon. She wrote of cleaning and painting projects completed on the ship. Trips to shore to collect wood, coconuts, terrapin, fish, hogs, potatoes, and other necessities were regularly noted in her journal. On September 11, 1850, she went to Cocos Island to wash clothes. "I think this is one of the best places to wash clothes I ever saw, the Captn has had a tent put up so we can wash comfortable." She even had a "fine shower" on the island. Occasionally Mrs. Veeder commented on the food eaten on board the ship. On New Year's Day 1852 she wrote that they dined on "beans and Skip Jack." Entries between April 7 and 9, 1852, reveal a sense of the familial domesticity on board the Nauticon. Mrs. Veeder wrote twice about sewing a new pink calico shirt. Then she reported: "Chas making a pair of shoes for David [son] this morning." And finally she spent a day cleaning out her own room on the ship and had a bedstead repaired.

Part of the daily routine for the captain was managing his crew, which proved on occasion to be a challenge. Early on in the voyage a rebellious crew "demanded liberty." Mrs. Veeder described the event calmly in August 1849 claiming that "the fuss was soon stoped by puting the ring leaders in the rigging and giving them a dozen or two." In March 1850 two men deserted the ship. After searching the nearest island for the two men, Captain Veeder told the twelve natives living there that he would return in a few days and if the men had not been caught "he should take away their Pigs and burn their houses acordingly in three days he returned as soon as they see the ship they set a flag and made a fire to let us know that they had caught them." The captain only shipped one of the men; the other he did not want as this was "the second time that he had run away and got others to go with him."

Illness and death were other realities of life on board the ship. One of the more harrowing events reported was a whaling accident involving the second mate. On November 21, 1852, the crew in a whaleboat had "struck another whale the line got foul and took the second mate out of the boat and draged him under watter some minutes - when taken out found him quite exhausted and he vomited considerable blood another boat lowered and took him to the ship and got him quite comfortable." A few days later she wrote that he was recovering well and was out on deck with some of the other sick men. Another tragedy was the death of the third mate after falling from the rigging on April 23, 1851: "it has cast a gloom over the whole ships company." The next day, Mrs. Veeder wrote "at 8 oclock AM all hands was called to Bury the dead the head yards was hauled a back and the Ensign was set half mast prayers was read and the body commited to the deep And a solem sight it was to us all."

A high point of life at sea for Mrs. Veeder was the opportunity to "speak" to other boats. Visits with other captains and wives on board the Nauticon and other vessels were regularly detailed by Mrs. Veeder. She even described gifts given to her by visitors. On July 3, 1850, she wrote about a visitor who "came on board to dine I got one letter he gave me a number of things tins of fresh meat cranberries Pickles." Visitors also brought gifts for the boys. Trips to ports were opportunities to socialize with other whaling families. On October 31, 1851, the Veeders attended a ball on Oahu Island where they "had a fine time — about 350 their."

It is Mrs. Veeder's incidental personal comments that make the reading of the journal touching and poignant. Early on in the voyage, she wrote, "The nights are so short that I am a bed about half of the day the Captn is all attention and says he is very happy to think I am here and Incourages me by saying that he thinks I get along first rate." Later she comments on the captain's and her birthdays. "Chas has a birthday aged 42 years" on August 2, 1851, and then on August 9, 1851, she writes "I have a birthday aged 35 years Injoying good health."

Finally, after years at sea they rounded Cape Horn again and headed for home. There was almost tactile joy in her words on January 15, 1853, when she wrote "At 1 PM we had a fair wind and took our Anchor and left St. Catherines for home." She grew impatient by the end: "Agoing along nicely toward home. I hasten the time when we may arrive their" and "today is the last day of the month [February] hoping to be home by the 15th of the next month."

The Weekly Mirror’s "Marine Journal" column announced the arrival of the ship on March 27, 1853. And so ended Mrs. Veeder's adventures on the Nauticon. One cannot help but be curious about the woman's life after that date. Little is known — only a few dates and names in the Barney record; another daughter, Marianna, was born on April 11, 1860. In the end, the journal stands as a fascinating window into Mrs. Veeder's life and the lives of other Nantucket women at sea.