‘Hen Frigates’ was a
derisive
name given to vessels where the masters of merchant ships brought along
their
wives during the 19th century. Abby Morrell’s account is one of the
first of these narratives and concerns a three-year voyage that took
her from New
York to the South Pacific. She married Benjamin Morrell, a cousin, in
1824 at
the age of fifteen. Three weeks later, Benjamin set sail on a two-year
voyage.
After other separations, including another one lasting almost a year,
she
decided that the next time he set sail, she would accompany him. “At
first he
apparently would not hear of it; but ‘when I insisted (as far as
affectionate
obedience could insist) he at last reluctantly yielded . . . .” (5)
Soon after they embarked in
September 1829 aboard the Antarctic,
Abby fretted about her young son, who remained on shore, and suffered
from
seasickness. Eventually, she overcame both of these impediments and,
with
little to occupy her days, became an observer of life at sea, the
various
worlds she visited, and the people she met. In addition to her many
observations, she also argues for the improvement of seamen, both in
their
working conditions and as regards their education.
Whether she’s discussing
cannibals, an interfering American consul, or an earthquake, she is
matter-of-fact in her narrative. She neither sensationalizes nor
exaggerates,
unlike her husband who also left an account of the voyage. A map
depicting the
various islands visited appears in the front of the book, making it
easy for
readers to locate where Abby is at any stage in her journey until her
return
home three years later.
Captain’s Wife
is the seventh volume in the Seafarer’s Voice series and is the only
one from a
woman’s perspective. This account, taken from the one published in
1833, is
considerably shorter, mainly because the editor, Vincent McInerney,
omitted
much of the text that pertained to “religious and evangelical matters
of
perhaps limited interest to the majority of contemporary readership,
plus some
topographical and geographical material.” This book is highly
entertaining and
readable, and more than once readers will find themselves holding their
breath,
sitting on the edges of their seats, and marveling at Abby’s
examination of
life on a ship and in exotic ports of call.
Review Copyrighted ©2012 Cindy
Vallar
Captain’s Wife
is the seventh in a series called Seafarer’s Voices that offers
first-hand
accounts of voyages covering a two hundred-year period. This particular
volume
is a newly edited version of a journal detailing an 1829 to 1831 voyage
from
New England to the South Pacific and back by Abby Jane Morrell, a
merchant
captain’s wife. Originally published in 1833, purportedly as “a plea
for an
amelioration of the lot of American seaman,” this fascinating account
more
importantly gives the reader a clear vision of what such a voyage was
like from
the unique perspective of an educated woman of the time.
Abby Morrell’s
natural curiosity and keen mind are evident everywhere. She not only
carefully
chronicles the places her husband’s ship, the schooner Antarctic,
visits, complete with vivid descriptions of the flora,
fauna, and people encountered, but she also offers insightful comments
on how
these amazing new things fit into the world she knows. Her observations
may not
always be scientifically accurate or her opinions considered political
correct
by twenty-first-century standards – she is convinced of the superiority
of her
own race and religion, for instance – but this makes her voice all the
more
true. And for her time, her attitudes are often surprisingly liberal.
Of course, the most
compelling character encountered is Abby Morrell herself. Married at
fifteen,
she left one young son with her mother to undertake this voyage at the
age of
twenty, giving birth to a second son nine days after returning home.
Although
she makes no mention of her indelicate condition in her journal, it is
easy to
imagine her waddling about the ship hugely pregnant. I regret Vincent
McInerney’s
introduction didn’t fill in the rest of her life after the voyage was
completed. As it is, someone the reader has come to know and like just
disappears into the mists of time.
Abby’s husband,
Benjamin Morrell, also published an account of this voyage in his book
entitled A Narrative of Four Voyages. Abby
accompanied him on the fourth and final one. I must admit I sought out
this
book and enjoyed reading the parallel versions of this trip. The facts
were the
same, but the perceptions and areas of interest were often very
different. In
discussing her efforts to convince her husband that she should
accompany him,
Abby only says, “I insisted (as far as affectionate obedience could
insist).” Benjamin’s lengthier account
details a process that might be familiar to some present-day husbands
by which
she simply wore him down.
By turns feisty, opinionated,
inquisitive, and contemplative, Abby Morrell lives and breathes on
these pages.
Many will want to read Captain’s Wife
as a tale of adventure, but what has stayed in my mind is the character
of the
incomparable young woman who told these tales. Recommended.
Review Copyrighted ©2012 Merry
Simmons
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