Path of the Pequod
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Ackin
May 4, 2008, 3:47:59 AM5/4/08
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Dear listmates,
I have a dilemma. I'm trying to plot the path of the Pequod round the
globe, based on the textual indications in Moby-Dick.
There's a problem, however.
On chapter 51, (The Spirit-Spout) Ishmael says:
"Days, weeks passed, and under easy sail, the ivory Pequod had slowly
swept across four several cruising-grounds; that off the Azores; off
the Cape de Verdes; on the Plate (so called), being off the mouth of
the Rio de la Plata; and the Carrol Ground, an unstaked, watery
locality, southerly from St. Helena."
Did the Pequod sailed again across the Atlantic from the Azores or St.
Helena to reach the mouth of the Rio de la Plata (off Argentina) then
sailed eastward to the Cape, recrossing the Atlantic?
I've made a map showing the chapter numbers containing geographical
indications, which I've downloaded to the Files section of the group.
I'd love to have your opinion about this "problem".
Nick
Fernando Velasco
May 4, 2008, 4:39:57 AM5/4/08
to Ishma...@googlegroups.com
As in many order things, MD is not precise in the Pequod's path. My guess is that it's better to assume that it went directly from Cabo Verde to the Rio de la Plata --an almost straight southward sail-- and then went to the Carrol Ground. There's at least another oddity: the Pequod sails southward (chapter 28) until it reaches tropical waters (29), but then we learn that it has visited the Azores, a group of islands not exactly tropical --beign at about the same latitude of Washington D.C.-- and too far East for a southward sail.
Fernando Velasco
----- Mensaje original ----
De: Ackin <acold...@gmail.com>
Para: Ishmailites <Ishma...@googlegroups.com>
Enviado: domingo, 4 de mayo, 2008 9:47:59
Asunto: Path of the Pequod
De: Ackin <acold...@gmail.com>
Para: Ishmailites <Ishma...@googlegroups.com>
Enviado: domingo, 4 de mayo, 2008 9:47:59
Asunto: Path of the Pequod
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Ackin
May 4, 2008, 11:47:24 AM5/4/08
to Ishmailites
In fact, in chapter 29, Ishmael just mentions that the Pequod sails
near the "threshold of the eternal August of the Tropic", that is, the
Tropic of Cancer, en route toward the Azores, not that they are,
strictly speaking, in "tropical waters". But the image of the "bright
Quito spring" may be confusing in this context.
Nick
near the "threshold of the eternal August of the Tropic", that is, the
Tropic of Cancer, en route toward the Azores, not that they are,
strictly speaking, in "tropical waters". But the image of the "bright
Quito spring" may be confusing in this context.
Nick
dan.m...@juno.com
May 4, 2008, 1:32:44 PM5/4/08
to Ishma...@googlegroups.com
Hello All...
The inconsistencies stated resolve themselves when the physical world is brought into play. A map of Atlantic currents accounts for much of the Pequod's course, and once that is considered, then astronomical observations allow more exact map locations. From this, one learns chapters 29, 30, and 31 occurs March 11-12, 1839. The ship crosses the equator at latitude 28 degrees West longitude.
I can provide other exact dates, latitude, longitude data on most other chapters. I presented some of this material several years ago on the old Ishmail, however interest was so low, I thought to discontinue the efforts. I have concluded most Melville scholars are more interested in waxing their philosophical hand waving points than hard data.
Incidentally, I'll assume there is no statute of limitations on responses to entries on the listserve. I want to address two entries several months ago concerning Pip and Doughboy represented as the constellations Corvus and Crater, as soon as the end of the semester permits. Undoubtedly Melville pairs Pip and Doughboy to Gemini the twins.
My position at Arizona State University has shifted from the Department of Physics and Astronomy to the School of Earth and Space Exploration. I would have guessed the change would put me out of business for a month or two, but no, it has put me out several years.
Best,
Dan Matlaga
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Hardeman
May 4, 2008, 3:25:52 PM5/4/08
to Ishmailites
Nick,
An excellent source of information on sailing ship passages is found
in the Admiralty publication “Ocean Passages For The World” NP 136 my
copy 1971 but the charts date back to the 19th century. Whaling
vessels when passing between whaling grounds would use this knowledge
to avoid slow passages due to the doldrums , opposing currents, and to
make the best use of the trade winds which shift with the seasons.
>Maury’s Whaling Chart< published in 1851 made the whaling grounds common knowledge available to a wider audience as well as wind and current patterns that are available in the “Pilot Charts” published by the US Government.
I agree with Francisco’s conclusion.
I have posted in FILES a photo of my copy of Admiralty chart 5308
called “ Seasonal Sailing Ship Routes” to better inform those who wish
to know what a good captain would have used to navigate with a square
rigger in Melville’s day.
The passage marked in purple is the best path between New England and
the Cape. Use the enlargement option to see details which reveal how
the season effects how far East and West one must go to make the best
time .
Hardeman
An excellent source of information on sailing ship passages is found
in the Admiralty publication “Ocean Passages For The World” NP 136 my
copy 1971 but the charts date back to the 19th century. Whaling
vessels when passing between whaling grounds would use this knowledge
to avoid slow passages due to the doldrums , opposing currents, and to
make the best use of the trade winds which shift with the seasons.
>Maury’s Whaling Chart< published in 1851 made the whaling grounds common knowledge available to a wider audience as well as wind and current patterns that are available in the “Pilot Charts” published by the US Government.
I agree with Francisco’s conclusion.
I have posted in FILES a photo of my copy of Admiralty chart 5308
called “ Seasonal Sailing Ship Routes” to better inform those who wish
to know what a good captain would have used to navigate with a square
rigger in Melville’s day.
The passage marked in purple is the best path between New England and
the Cape. Use the enlargement option to see details which reveal how
the season effects how far East and West one must go to make the best
time .
Hardeman
Ackin
May 4, 2008, 4:49:10 PM5/4/08
to Ishmailites
Dan,
Thank you for your precisions. I am indeed interested in hard data on
this topic, if only to confront them with more symbolic material.
I am also very interested in your astronomical hypothesis linking Pip
with Corvus, because the image, or rather the symbol of the Crow is of
prime importance in Moby-Dick. Did you know that latin for harpoon is
"corvus"? Did you realize that the anagram of Rokovoko is, Korvo,
suggesting Corvus? That the beheading of the crow is an important
figure in alchemy is, of course, purely coincidental...
PS. I would rather compare Pip and Dough-Boy to a Magpie. Still from
the family of the Corvidae though.
Hardeman,
Thanks for your excellent map and precisions. Most helpful. BTW, I
infer that the Prime meridian used in 1850 by American whalers was
that of Paris. Am I right or did they use other meridians like the
Lizard?
Best,
Nick
Thank you for your precisions. I am indeed interested in hard data on
this topic, if only to confront them with more symbolic material.
I am also very interested in your astronomical hypothesis linking Pip
with Corvus, because the image, or rather the symbol of the Crow is of
prime importance in Moby-Dick. Did you know that latin for harpoon is
"corvus"? Did you realize that the anagram of Rokovoko is, Korvo,
suggesting Corvus? That the beheading of the crow is an important
figure in alchemy is, of course, purely coincidental...
PS. I would rather compare Pip and Dough-Boy to a Magpie. Still from
the family of the Corvidae though.
Hardeman,
Thanks for your excellent map and precisions. Most helpful. BTW, I
infer that the Prime meridian used in 1850 by American whalers was
that of Paris. Am I right or did they use other meridians like the
Lizard?
Best,
Nick
gordon poole
May 4, 2008, 7:30:23 PM5/4/08
to Ishma...@googlegroups.com
Dear Dan Matlaga:
How good to read you again!
But if you insist on your 1939 dating, you are going to hear from me as I direct attention to Chapter I of Moby-Dick, where we find what I consider hard-to-contest indications as to the dating of the Pequod's imagined voyage. The voyage takes place in 1841, not in 1839, no matter what the stars say.
Yours,
Gordon Poole
How good to read you again!
But if you insist on your 1939 dating, you are going to hear from me as I direct attention to Chapter I of Moby-Dick, where we find what I consider hard-to-contest indications as to the dating of the Pequod's imagined voyage. The voyage takes place in 1841, not in 1839, no matter what the stars say.
Yours,
Gordon Poole
gordon poole
May 4, 2008, 6:55:00 PM5/4/08
to Ishmailites
Dear Ackin/Nick:
Yes is my answer to your question.
Many editions of Moby-Dick furnish maps on the Pequod's voyage. Unfortunately the edition by Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker (New York - London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1967) got the map wrong, precisely because it ignores the slightly south-west deviation of the Pequod to the Plate, etc. off the Argentina coast, which you have rightly noted from the text, a mistake repeated in their revised edition (2002). Other maps variously available give a textually truer picture of the Pequod's course, including the one furnished in the recent Longman Critical Edition edited by John Bryant and Haskell Springer.
In an article of mine, "The Narrative Structure of 'Moby-Dick'" (Anglistica, XXVII, 3, 1984), Istituto Universitario Orientale, pp.89-103, I dealt with the possible symbolic significance of the Pequod's voyage, a theme raised by Lawrence Thompson. My article has not raised much interest, also because it was published in a non-U.S. journal, but I can send you an electronic copy if you want.
Yours,
Gordon Poole
Yes is my answer to your question.
Many editions of Moby-Dick furnish maps on the Pequod's voyage. Unfortunately the edition by Harrison Hayford and Hershel Parker (New York - London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1967) got the map wrong, precisely because it ignores the slightly south-west deviation of the Pequod to the Plate, etc. off the Argentina coast, which you have rightly noted from the text, a mistake repeated in their revised edition (2002). Other maps variously available give a textually truer picture of the Pequod's course, including the one furnished in the recent Longman Critical Edition edited by John Bryant and Haskell Springer.
In an article of mine, "The Narrative Structure of 'Moby-Dick'" (Anglistica, XXVII, 3, 1984), Istituto Universitario Orientale, pp.89-103, I dealt with the possible symbolic significance of the Pequod's voyage, a theme raised by Lawrence Thompson. My article has not raised much interest, also because it was published in a non-U.S. journal, but I can send you an electronic copy if you want.
Yours,
Gordon Poole
Hardeman
May 4, 2008, 11:05:43 PM5/4/08
to Ishmailites
Nick,
I am uninformed about your comment of what prime meridian American
Whalers used. I do know that Greenwich was not agreed upon by many
nations until 1884. Before that charts used a variety of references
which I assume whaling captains overcame by some convention. Further,
Maury who collected the logs of as many ships as possible consolidated
his findings and published charts from 1850’s onward using Greenwich
as the Prime Meridian. The pilot books in my possession which were
used by whaling ships before the Civil War ( Blunt’s 1847 and James
Imray and son 1855) used Greenwich. And of course most post mid 18th
century Whaling captains used Maury's charts.
For a chart by Maury see http://www.historyshots.com/ViewInfo.cfm?Type=zoom&PID=1013
I wish to apologize to Fernando Velasco for attempting to rename him
in my previous posting. It appears I will never place anything on
this list without a typo or a strange spelling.
Hardeman
> >Nick- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I am uninformed about your comment of what prime meridian American
Whalers used. I do know that Greenwich was not agreed upon by many
nations until 1884. Before that charts used a variety of references
which I assume whaling captains overcame by some convention. Further,
Maury who collected the logs of as many ships as possible consolidated
his findings and published charts from 1850’s onward using Greenwich
as the Prime Meridian. The pilot books in my possession which were
used by whaling ships before the Civil War ( Blunt’s 1847 and James
Imray and son 1855) used Greenwich. And of course most post mid 18th
century Whaling captains used Maury's charts.
For a chart by Maury see http://www.historyshots.com/ViewInfo.cfm?Type=zoom&PID=1013
I wish to apologize to Fernando Velasco for attempting to rename him
in my previous posting. It appears I will never place anything on
this list without a typo or a strange spelling.
Hardeman
>
> - Show quoted text -
Hardeman
May 4, 2008, 11:12:44 PM5/4/08
to Ishmailites
Yup another typo
"mid 19th century whaling captains" it should have been
On May 5, 5:05 am, Hardeman <lhp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Nick,
> I am uninformed about your comment of what prime meridian American
> Whalers used. I do know that Greenwich was not agreed upon by many
> nations until 1884. Before that charts used a variety of references
> which I assume whaling captains overcame by some convention. Further,
> Maury who collected the logs of as many ships as possible consolidated
> his findings and published charts from 1850’s onward using Greenwich
> as the Prime Meridian. The pilot books in my possession which were
> used by whaling ships before the Civil War ( Blunt’s 1847 and James
> Imray and son 1855) used Greenwich. And of course most post mid 18th
> century Whaling captains used Maury's charts.
>
> For a chart by Maury seehttp://www.historyshots.com/ViewInfo.cfm?Type=zoom&PID=1013
> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -
"mid 19th century whaling captains" it should have been
On May 5, 5:05 am, Hardeman <lhp...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Nick,
> I am uninformed about your comment of what prime meridian American
> Whalers used. I do know that Greenwich was not agreed upon by many
> nations until 1884. Before that charts used a variety of references
> which I assume whaling captains overcame by some convention. Further,
> Maury who collected the logs of as many ships as possible consolidated
> his findings and published charts from 1850’s onward using Greenwich
> as the Prime Meridian. The pilot books in my possession which were
> used by whaling ships before the Civil War ( Blunt’s 1847 and James
> Imray and son 1855) used Greenwich. And of course most post mid 18th
> century Whaling captains used Maury's charts.
>
tamar cummings
May 5, 2008, 6:26:26 PM5/5/08
to Ishma...@googlegroups.com
You never know when good old "Moby-Dick" will surface.....here he is breaching and tantalizing his audience with his size and agility, bringing the newscaster to mention the famous MD himself.
Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.
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