42 Facts About Benjamin Morrell

Benjamin Morrell was an American sea captain, explorer and trader who made a number of voyages, mainly to the Atlantic, the Southern Ocean and the Pacific Islands.

Benjamin Morrell ended his career as a fugitive, having wrecked his ship and misappropriated parts of the salvaged cargo.

Benjamin Morrell had an eventful early career, running away to sea at the age of 17 and being twice captured and imprisoned by the British during the War of 1812.

Benjamin Morrell subsequently sailed before the mast for several years before being appointed as chief mate, and later as captain, of the New York sealer Wasp.

Benjamin Morrell is believed to have died in 1838 or 1839, in Mozambique; there is evidence to suggest that this death might have been staged, and that he lived on in exile, possibly in South America.

Benjamin Morrell grew up in Stonington, Connecticut, where his father, named Benjamin, was employed as a shipbuilder.

Benjamin Morrell, who had evidently heard stories of these islands, was keen to go there.

Gould, writing in 1928 before the continental boundaries of this sector of Antarctica were known, based his support for Benjamin Morrell on the premise that Enderby Land was an island with a sea channel south of it.

Benjamin Morrell refers to this land as "New South Greenland", and records that during the next few days Wasp explored more than 300 nautical miles of coast.

Benjamin Morrell provided vivid descriptions of the land's features, with observations of its abundant wildlife.

Benjamin Morrell quickly married his 15-year-old cousin, Abigail Jane Wood.

Benjamin Morrell then sailed westward to the islands of Hawaii, known at that time as the Sandwich Islands, where Captain James Cook had met his death nearly 40 years earlier.

Benjamin Morrell found the slaves' conditions wretched, but was impressed by their passion for music which, he thought, "can alleviate even the pangs caused by the galling fetters of slavery".

On June 8,1829, Benjamin Morrell wrote in his journal: "The voyage had been prosperous beyond our expectations, and any further stay on the African coast would have been a waste of time and money".

Benjamin Morrell sailed north for Manila in the Philippines, hoping to find a commercial cargo there, and arrived in March 1830.

Benjamin Morrell sailed from Manila without her, and initially had little luck in finding sea cucumbers in any quantity.

Benjamin Morrell set up camp on one of the islands, where he faced a hostile reception from the population, who were nevertheless intrigued by their first sight of metal.

Benjamin Morrell hired a large number of Manilans to augment his crew, and with a help of a loan from the British consul, adapted Antarctica and fitted her with guns and cannons.

Finally, Benjamin Morrell decided to abandon the enterprise, citing the "unappeasable vindictiveness and incessant hostilities" of the native population.

Benjamin Morrell left Manila on January 13,1831, taking his captives with him.

Benjamin Morrell was forced to discharge the cargo in Bordeaux, where Dako and Monday, rumored in the town to be cannibals, again attracted great curiosity.

Antarctic finally reached New York on August 27,1831; despite his lack of commercial success, Benjamin Morrell remained upbeat about future prospects in the Pacific.

When he returned to New York after his profitless fourth voyage, Benjamin Morrell was heavily in debt and in urgent need of funds.

Newspapers showed great interest in the story of the voyage, and Benjamin Morrell was keen to cash in.

In October 1831 Benjamin Morrell took the show on a tour, which began in Albany on October 10.

The tour proceeded to Philadelphia, Baltimore and finally Washington DC, before ending in January 1832, at which point Benjamin Morrell returned the show to Peale's.

Abby Benjamin Morrell's journals received similar treatment from another established author, Samuel Knapp.

Benjamin Morrell's book was published in December 1832, hers early in 1833.

Benjamin Morrell's was very successful and sold well; the New York Mirror found it "a highly interesting and instructive work", with "stirring adventures and much geographical and nautical information".

Benjamin Morrell's ghosted account was one of the sources used by Edgar Allan Poe in his novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

Benjamin Morrell remained in the area for several months, exploring and collecting artefacts, before departing in April 1835 for Port Jackson in Australia for repairs and repainting.

Benjamin Morrell was given up for lost with all her crew before, months later, news arrived in Mauritius that she had been wrecked on the coast of Madagascar.

When representatives of the insurers arrived in Madagascar to assess the loss, they discovered that Benjamin Morrell had departed, taking part of the remaining cargo with him.

Benjamin Morrell found his way to South Africa, where he boarded a British ship, Rio Packet, bound for London.

In London early in 1837, Benjamin Morrell attempted to convert some of the purloined cargo into cash, but word of his activities had spread, and the proceeds were immediately confiscated by agents acting for Margaret Oakley's insurers.

Benjamin Morrell's offer was declined; Morrell was by now regarded as a fraud in France as well as in Britain and America.

Benjamin Morrell got no further than Mozambique on the East African coast; his ship was wrecked, and Morrell was stranded ashore.

Benjamin Morrell is reported to have died, either of fever or during an insurrection, in late 1838 or early 1839.

Christine was known as a slave ship, which raises the possibility that in his final years Benjamin Morrell was engaged with the slave trade.

Fairhead suggests an alternative hypothesis: that Benjamin Morrell staged his death in Mozambique, to evade Margaret Oakley's insurers.

Rupert Gould, writing in 1928, thought that Benjamin Morrell may have been boastful and self-aggrandizing, but that did not make him a deliberate liar.

Paul Simpson-Housley suggests that as well as adapting Weddell's narrative as his own experience, Benjamin Morrell may have taken the details of his 1823 visit to Bouvet Island from the records of an 1825 visit by Captain George Norris,.