Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana. An account of the cattle hide trade along the California coast in the 1830s by a Harvard student on a leave of

Two Years Before The Mast by Richard Henry Dana. An account of the cattle hide trade along the California coast in the 1830s by a Harvard student on a leave of absence from his studies. Dana narrates about his life as a sailor traveling around Cape Horn and his work among the Californian coastal communities collecting hides to be sent back east. One of the books that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick and was used as a travel guide by the 49ers during the gold rush. Dana returned in 1859 to see how California progressed and added an epilogue to later editions about that journey.