Mutiny on the Globe: The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock

Mutiny on the Globe by Thomas Farel Heffernan is a story written for the causual history reader about a disgruntled and insane whaleman Samuel Comstock who, in 1822, sought to live out his horrible fantasy. Comstock's dream was to take over a ship by killing the captain and his mates, sailing to an island, enslaving the natives who-as his personal military force-would kill the remaining crew and worship Comstock as their maniacal king. On the whaling ship Globe, Comstock achieved the first two ends; however, his ultimate plans were vanquished. Heffernan's work is based almost entirely on primary sources. Comstock's early life is described through the work of brother William Comstock (referring to the mutineer as both the "terrible whaleman" and "our hero"). The mutiny is seen, in large part, through the eyes of Samuel's other brother George, a fellow member of the Globe crew. The description of the island invaded by the Globe (on the Mili Atoll) is found in The Narratives of surviving crew members William Lay and Cyrus Hussey. The rescue of the crew members is based primarily on the memoirs of Captain Hiram Paulding. I found the story to be a little disappointing. The main character is no longer a factor before the halfway point of the book. Samuel Comstock is such a fascinating character: psychopathic on one level but then revealing strong religious sensibilities when he conducted burial services for those he killed and spared the life of Gilbert Smith, who he suspected of being a threat to his ends, allegedly because he respected Smith's moral standing. Then, alas, Comstock is gone and the story shifts to Lay and Hussey trying to survive on the islands. The author is limited to what sources are available. A lot of questions are not answered; most likely through no fault of the author. Why did the natives, who regarded the white intruders as "visitors from outerspace" spare the lives of Lay and Hussey? What was the reaction of Samuel's parents to news of the mutiny and their son's role in it? Did not brothers George and William note their reaction in their writings? For the most part, the book is fast-moving (the body of the text is only 215 pages) and written in an engaging and sometimes exciting style. The final 40 pages or so after Paulding and the rescue ship Dolphin accomplished its mission is a bit tedious as the new arrivals struggled to tolerate the natives. The Afterward seemed a bit unfocused with a preoccupation with Captain Percival's attempts to have the prostitution ban lifted on the ship as they stayed in the missionary Hiram Bingham-dominated Hawaiian islands. Heffernan also breezes through a question on whether Hussey or Lay fathered children while on the islands (the author thinks not). Heffernan continues with the fates of those involved but more post-island information, if available, would be welcomed. What was the public reaction to the mutiny? Were there any letters to the editor in the newspapers on

There is madness all through the classic Moby Dick, not just Ahab, and not just on the doomed whaleship _Pequod_, but on many of the vessels the _Pequod_ meets. Melville was well acquainted with the madness that might be found at sea, and he knew the literature touching thereupon. One of the quotations that are included in the mammoth collection that starts off the great novel is from the _Life of Samuel Comstock (The Terrible Whaleman)_: "If you make the least damn bit of noise," replied Samuel, "I will send you to hell." The accounts of Comstock's mutiny on the whaleship _Globe_ were well known at the time; the stories were wild and made for popular reading. Now Thomas Farel Heffernan has scrupulously studied the accounts to produce _Mutiny on the Globe: The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock_ (Norton). His account of the grisly mutiny and its aftereffects is a fast-moving and suspenseful account of the 1824 disaster which should satisfy sea history buffs, Melville fans, and anyone interested in a good yarn.Samuel Comstock was born into a decent and prosperous Quaker family in 1802, but that didn't seem to have much to do with even his boyish activities. He was headstrong and disobedient, and at twelve, he was packing pistols and daggers under his pillow at night. He tried to run away to sea at age fourteen, and his father gave up, allowing Samuel to begin his seagoing career. As can be imagined, he had the usual drunkenness and brawling that are the hobbies of sailors, but he had sexual and romantic conquests, too; he seems to have been the archetypal bad boy that some ladies cannot help falling for. He learned plenty about going to sea, and he learned that he particularly did not like whaleships, but during his first whaling cruise, he formed the plan to spend the rest of his life as the white king of the natives of a Pacific island, which he would make a pirate center, capturing any vessel that came near. When he signed up on the _Globe_, Samuel put into his sea chest some unseamanlike possessions. He included pistols, daggers, a medicine chest, surgical instruments, and agricultural seeds. It is clear he was going to put his plan into action. He ingratiated himself to the captain, who thought he was an especially competent mariner. Samuel was able to convince a handful of other sailors (not including his little brother George who sailed with him) that his plan was feasible. The gory mutiny occurred, and the ship was guided to an atoll in the Marshall Islands. Samuel was never able to put his plan into affect, because his fellow mutineers realized they would have to be put out of the way to make it happen. Much of this book is spent telling what happened after his plan was thwarted, especially to the remaining two sailors left for two years with the natives until being rescued by the US Navy. The resolute and meritorious action of the rescuers and the rescued nicely contrasts to the bloody mutiny itself.Heffernan knows his wh

Thomas Farel Heffernan has all the elements of a swift and exciting summer read in Mutiny on the Globe (The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock). The author pares the story down to its essentials, the bloody mutiny and its aftermath. Some historical context is lost in the rush (for that readers should consult the excellent In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick, a wonderfully detailed book covering the same historical period). What may be lacking in context is replaced by breathtaking, and often bloody, action. This is the perfect summery beach history book that provides thrills without sacrificing intelligence.

Many aspects of this senseless mutiny on board a Nantucket whaleship in the south Pacific in 1824 are fairly well known. There were many contemporaneous accounts of the MUTINY ON THE GLOBE. Two that are used by Heffernan are those of an officer on board the US navy ship Dolphin than went in rescue of the Globe's crew, and the account written by George Comstock, an eyewitness to "The Fatal Voyage of Samuel Comstock" and younger brother to the murderous leader of the mutineers. George's narrative comprises one of the books appendices. Since Heffernan is a historian, the facts are important and are given their due, but because he's an excellent writer the real enjoyment for readers is in his telling of the tale. The real interest is where it always is in these tragedies at sea - the people, the places, and the purpose of it all? Is there a point to mutiny or are we left to conclude that there was simply something bloody-minded about sailors in centuries past? There is no doubting that 21-year-old "terrible whaleman" Samuel Comstock was a violent man. Heffernan tells us that "at the age of twelve he carried pistols and daggers", played war games and frequently had violent fantasies. After his first trips at sea his Quaker siblings noted that "there was nothing left in his eyes". But surely this is insufficient evidence for Heffernan to claim that he was a "malignant narcissist" and a "sociopath". As we read on however we see the truth of it. Half way through the book the night of mutiny and murder occurs. Twenty-nine year old Captain Worth, First-mate Beetle and other officers were dispatched. Heffernan is unflinching in his description of Worth's demise saying "they ran the boarding knife through his body and drove it home with a blow from an axe; it entered below the stomach and came out the neck." I repeat what Heffernan wrote for one reason only. This more than anything else will convey to the reader both the degree of Comstock's depravity and the intense, emotive power of Heffernans writing. Comstock got his comeuppance and not too long after either. His bizarre dream of an island kingdom with him as ruler never came to fruition and died with him on the sands of Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. With the central character gone what's left for Heffernan? The remainder of the book is merely a shift in emphasis but loses nothing in interest. The story is now that of the six crew members (inclusive of 15-year-old George Comstock) who managed to sail the Globe some 7,000 miles to Valparaiso, Chile, and also the nine men (quickly reduced to two) who stayed behind on the island. The US navy sent out the schooner Dolphin under the command of Lt. "Mad Jack" Percival to rescue the remaining crew. The ship arrived some 18 months later and was greeted by the loin-cloth clad two youngest members of Globe's crew who were living a life of semi-slavery and part-adoption to the islanders. This book is rich with the human drama of the rescued (William Lay and

First let me say I was very impressed with Heffernan's meticulous scholarship. This is a well documented history, complete with end notes and appendicies. That being said, where this book excells is in the telling of the tale. Heffernan is a master storyteller. He brings the story of Samuel Comstock to life, beginning with his early days in Nantucket and later in New York city, showing how his early obsession with war gaming versus other New York gangs stayed with him until his untimely death at 20 years old. Comstock really was a tragic figure in the classic sense: his own mania which was responsible for his leadership (although a usurped one) led to his downfall. The mutiny is a bloody horrowshow. The time spent among the natives of the Mili atoll is sumptuous as well as nerve-wracking for the marooned survivors. While I can't compare "Mutiny" to Melville's classic "Moby Dick," I would have to say that were Melville alive today, he would heap praise upon this soon-to-be classic of seafaring documentay/drama.