Captain eats his cousin – cannibalism at its worst

Date:
03.10.2020

Day: 062

Country:
Norway

Location:
Andenes

Daily kilometers:
0 km

Total kilometers:
5444 km

Soil condition:
Asphalt

Sunrise:
07:11

Sunset:
18:31

Temperature day max:
14°

Night temperature min:
9°

Departure:
10:30

Arrival time:
18:00

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52 days after the sinking of the Essex, on January 12, 1821, the first mate Owen Chase lost contact with the other two boats during a strong storm. It wasn’t long before their food supplies were completely depleted, which is why the first men starved to death or died of weakness. They all suffered terribly from hunger together, which led to them becoming cannibals and starting to eat their dead. Ultimately, the flesh of their comrades helped them to survive, because on the February 18, they were found near the islands of Juan-Fernández, which are located in the 17. and The ship, which served as a hideout for English pirates in the 18th century to attack Spanish ships and trade routes, was rescued by the British merchant ship Indian. For the survivors, their months-long odyssey had come to an end.

Ten days after those still alive on first mate Owen Chase’s boat were rescued, the other two boats were still bobbing on the merciless sea. Then, on January 28, they lost sight of each other and Captain Pollard lost contact with the third boat, which was never heard from again. There was nothing left to eat on Pollard’s whaling boat either, and after seeing off her first two dead with a sailor’s grave, hunger turned even this small crew into cannibals. Although it’s hard to believe, the men apparently fared even worse than the others, because when only four men were left alive, they drew lots among themselves to see who would die next to serve as food for the others.” “Phew, and that’s a true story?” Tanja interrupts Flynn, who seems to be far away in his thoughts and needs a few moments to answer Tanja’s question. “Um, what did you ask?” he asks somehow absently. “Whether that’s a true story you’re telling us?” “Of course it’s a true story. My grandfather told it to me, and he got it from his father, who was old at the time but knew some of the survivors of the Essex personally. You can also research the sinking of the Essex online and there are many reports about this tragedy that come directly from the survivors. I wouldn’t want to tell you any horror stories,” he says. “I’m sorry,” Tanja replies, “the story sounds so unbelievable that it’s hard to believe. But please go on. What happened to Captain Pollard’s boat? Did they survive?” “Well, as I said, they drew lots to see who would be shot next to serve as food for their comrades so they could live on. The lot fell to Pollard’s eighteen-year-old cousin Owen Coffin. At the beginning of the journey, he promised his aunt Nancy Bunker Coffin that he would bring him back safe and sound and now the fateful lot fell on the boy. It was clear that none of the others wanted to shoot the boy. So they drew lots again. This time the lot fell on Charles Ramsdell who then shot Owen. As soon as he was dead, they cut him up and ate him whole. Then Barzillai Ray also died and ended up in the stomachs of Pollard and Ramsdell. On February 23, 105 days after the sperm whale rammed the Essex, they were spotted off the Chilean coast by the whaleship Dauphin. When the whaler’s crew saw Pollard and Ramsdell, they must have been horrified by the sight. Their sunburnt skin was covered in boils and pustules. Their half-dead bodies were completely emaciated and they were totally confused. Even when they were brought on board the whaler, they would not stop gnawing on the bones of their comrades. They were taken to the Chilean port of Valparaíso. There they met the officer Owen Chase, the harpooner Benjamin Lawrence and the cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, who were rescued by the British merchant ship Indian.

Nine of the 21 crew members survived the largest ship disaster caused by a whale. Of the other 13 crew members, seven fell victim to cannibalism, three were given a burial at sea, two are lost forever and one sailor escaped during a shore leave in Ecuador.” “What a terrible story,” I say, when Flynn falls silent again.

“Do you know how many kilometers they covered in their little boats?” I ask Flynn, who is apparently a walking book of experiences. “Of course we know that. According to their route calculations, it was 6,483 kilometers.” “6,483 kilometers and that in the small wooden boats on the ocean! “Unbelievable.” “Unbelievable.” “Unbelievable, but not unique.” “How not unique? Have more ships been attacked by whales?” “Yes. The Pusie Hall was hit in 1835, the Two Generals in 1838, the Pocahontas in 1850 and the Ann Alexander sank in 1851, but her crew were rescued two days after she sank. “It’s unbelievable,” I say. “Yes, sperm whales are intelligent and one or two of them put up a fight.” “Is that somehow understandable given the slaughter of the time? Don’t you think?” I interject cautiously. “From today’s perspective, yes, but people thought differently back then and the whale was of indispensable value to the global industry,” says Fynn and continues his story. “By the way, there was a famous whale that the whalers called Mocha Dick. It was a male gray animal that is said to have had a white scar on its head. Mocha was sighted off the Chilean coast in 1810 and was allegedly killed by a Swedish whaler in 1859. Perhaps it was also the whale that sank the Essex? These bulls were apparently not an isolated case. The names of such bull whales were Spotted Tom, Shy Jack, Ugly Jim and Fighting Joe. They were regarded as the terrorists of the sea, with large bounties on their heads.”