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Logbook for Grace: Whaling Brig Daisy, 1912-1913
Observations by naturalist Robert Cushman Murphy on a whaling ship in Antarctic seas near South Georgia from 1912-1913. Pp. x, (4), 290; publisher's original green cloth, lettered in black on the spine and with a whaling ship in black on the front cover.
371 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
About the author
Robert Cushman Murphy
71 booksRobert Cushman Murphy was an American ornithologist and former Lamont curator of birds for the American Museum of Natural History.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 3, 2025
This is another book that I would never have heard of had I not become acquainted with the Time Reading Program, which only existed for a couple of years in the 60s, but was perhaps the best book club ever. The editors made brilliant choices in selecting their books, titles which are long out of print but still worth searching out and reading.
In 1912 Robert Cushman Murphy was a young marine zoologist at the American Museum of Natural History who was offered a chance to sail on the whaling ship Daisy from Nantucket to South Georgia. The age of steam had arrived, and Daisy was already a fading anachronism with not much time left (she would be lost a couple of years later, during World War I, while carrying a cargo of beans that got wet, swelled up, and burst her hull). Murphy was conscious that he would be reprising the role that Charles Darwin had played on the Beagle, and he was determined to be a worthy successor. He was also newly married, missed his wife very much, and maintained a journal for her that he would later expand into this book.
It was a remarkable, memorable voyage. He shared a small cabin with the Captain, and spent his time reading, writing, and collecting specimens. Following the winds Daisy first crossed the Atlantic to the Azores, then crossed back to the Caribbean and headed south. He pointed out that Brazil sticks out so far that the ship had to sail a thousand miles east again to pass it. There were long days becalmed in the doldrums as they slowly headed toward the South Atlantic, along with occasional storms and heavy seas. The crew kept a constant lookout for whales, and Murphy, like Melville in Moby Dick, explained clearly and in detail the process of tracking, killing, and rendering whales for their oil.
The ship’s captain was experienced and competent, but was capable of cruelty toward the crew and broke every law he could get away with. He would probably be called a rogue today, but that word carries a sense of approval, even affection, and this man inspired neither. When the ship arrived at South Georgia and he was told by the British authorities not to kill female or young seals, he sailed out of sight and slaughtered with abandon every seal he could find. When the hull was full, instead of returning and paying a royalty on the oil, he simply sailed for home.
At South Georgia Murphy got to see the grim new technologies that were to drive whales almost to extinction in the next few decades. The steam powered whaling boats with their explosive harpoons were able to kill half a dozen whales on each trip, and the beaches were littered with their remains. It has taken decades of careful conservation to make a start rebuilding their decimated populations.
Like Darwin, Murphy collected hundred of specimens, and much of his time was spent in the careful process of preparing and identifying them. He even discovered and named several that were previously unknown. His enthusiasm for his work shows through in his writing, and he would later make his reputation publishing a multi-volume set of books about the sea birds of the South Atlantic. He also wrote well, with a talent for descriptive scenes, whether sunrises, storms, the vast starry skies, or rocking gently under canvas as Daisy plied the oceans.
This is a fine book, well worth searching out in the used book stores. Though almost forgotten today, it was highly acclaimed when it was first published, and rightfully so. It tells the story of life at sea in the dying days of sail, and brings to life those who, as Psalms 107 says, “go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.”
In 1912 Robert Cushman Murphy was a young marine zoologist at the American Museum of Natural History who was offered a chance to sail on the whaling ship Daisy from Nantucket to South Georgia. The age of steam had arrived, and Daisy was already a fading anachronism with not much time left (she would be lost a couple of years later, during World War I, while carrying a cargo of beans that got wet, swelled up, and burst her hull). Murphy was conscious that he would be reprising the role that Charles Darwin had played on the Beagle, and he was determined to be a worthy successor. He was also newly married, missed his wife very much, and maintained a journal for her that he would later expand into this book.
It was a remarkable, memorable voyage. He shared a small cabin with the Captain, and spent his time reading, writing, and collecting specimens. Following the winds Daisy first crossed the Atlantic to the Azores, then crossed back to the Caribbean and headed south. He pointed out that Brazil sticks out so far that the ship had to sail a thousand miles east again to pass it. There were long days becalmed in the doldrums as they slowly headed toward the South Atlantic, along with occasional storms and heavy seas. The crew kept a constant lookout for whales, and Murphy, like Melville in Moby Dick, explained clearly and in detail the process of tracking, killing, and rendering whales for their oil.
The ship’s captain was experienced and competent, but was capable of cruelty toward the crew and broke every law he could get away with. He would probably be called a rogue today, but that word carries a sense of approval, even affection, and this man inspired neither. When the ship arrived at South Georgia and he was told by the British authorities not to kill female or young seals, he sailed out of sight and slaughtered with abandon every seal he could find. When the hull was full, instead of returning and paying a royalty on the oil, he simply sailed for home.
At South Georgia Murphy got to see the grim new technologies that were to drive whales almost to extinction in the next few decades. The steam powered whaling boats with their explosive harpoons were able to kill half a dozen whales on each trip, and the beaches were littered with their remains. It has taken decades of careful conservation to make a start rebuilding their decimated populations.
Like Darwin, Murphy collected hundred of specimens, and much of his time was spent in the careful process of preparing and identifying them. He even discovered and named several that were previously unknown. His enthusiasm for his work shows through in his writing, and he would later make his reputation publishing a multi-volume set of books about the sea birds of the South Atlantic. He also wrote well, with a talent for descriptive scenes, whether sunrises, storms, the vast starry skies, or rocking gently under canvas as Daisy plied the oceans.
This is a fine book, well worth searching out in the used book stores. Though almost forgotten today, it was highly acclaimed when it was first published, and rightfully so. It tells the story of life at sea in the dying days of sail, and brings to life those who, as Psalms 107 says, “go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.”
October 1, 2019
In 1912 a marine zoologist, Robert Cushman Murphy at the American Museum of Natural History board the brig Daisy, the last of its kind of an outmoded but still functioning Yankee whaler that is sailing on a voyage to South Georgia in search of whales.
The Logbook is written for Murphy's wife Grace, and takes the form of daily entrance of the journey from the West Indies to the brig's goal in the Arctic Sea of South Georgia. In the log Murphy describes the everyday experiences of the crew and the officers, the weather conditions, the state of the vessel, the edible and not so edible food supply, and the many details of his work in collecting data on the countless species of seabirds, mammals, and fish that he encounters along the way. The entries, of banal occurrences, of highly charged and dangerous events, of the crew's discontent and days of outright boredom are all meticulously rendered, and gives the reader a multifaceted yet grounded overview of a whaler's journey.
There are endless descriptions of sharks, dolphins, fish, birds and of course whales, both of the living and the dead variety. The latter's gruesome, suffering demise and subsequent cutting up and boiling down is described in comprehensive and discerning detail that is not for the faint of heart, and as the ship finally arrives in South Georgia, the fattened sea elephants become the species of choice for an exhaustive and abominable slaughter that goes on for many weeks.
When Daisy has filled her cargo with hard-earned whale and walrus oil, and the naturalist himself has taken specimens from all encountered species of seabirds, including specimens of leopard seals, killer whales, penguins, and walrus, the brig leaves behind thousands of flensed walrus carcasses as it set sails for home.
Besides the difficult and sometimes ruthless subject matter, Logbook for Grace is truly a fascinating chronicle. In the form of a diary that in more ways than one gives the reader an honest and vivid description of a sea journey in the twilight days of the sail, it can be read as a zoologist's notebook, a fanciful and engaging adventure story, and as an unorthodox love letter all rolled into one. Robert Cushman Murphy details the life, sights, crew, whales and birds with ardor, discipline and intellect that imbues his descriptions with a sense of wonder and serenity. The grim, yet evocative tale of the daily struggles, the brutality of life and death at sea, and of the unimaginable wonders of the natural world that he faithfully pens to his young bride, offers something for everyone who's looking for a dignified human response to both remarkable and unremarkable daily events.
Through the shifting subtleties of scientific, academic and every day practice of the whaler, the reader is left with a testament, not only to our blood drenched history on the world's oceans, but to our complex and predominant relationship with nature itself.
The Logbook is written for Murphy's wife Grace, and takes the form of daily entrance of the journey from the West Indies to the brig's goal in the Arctic Sea of South Georgia. In the log Murphy describes the everyday experiences of the crew and the officers, the weather conditions, the state of the vessel, the edible and not so edible food supply, and the many details of his work in collecting data on the countless species of seabirds, mammals, and fish that he encounters along the way. The entries, of banal occurrences, of highly charged and dangerous events, of the crew's discontent and days of outright boredom are all meticulously rendered, and gives the reader a multifaceted yet grounded overview of a whaler's journey.
There are endless descriptions of sharks, dolphins, fish, birds and of course whales, both of the living and the dead variety. The latter's gruesome, suffering demise and subsequent cutting up and boiling down is described in comprehensive and discerning detail that is not for the faint of heart, and as the ship finally arrives in South Georgia, the fattened sea elephants become the species of choice for an exhaustive and abominable slaughter that goes on for many weeks.
When Daisy has filled her cargo with hard-earned whale and walrus oil, and the naturalist himself has taken specimens from all encountered species of seabirds, including specimens of leopard seals, killer whales, penguins, and walrus, the brig leaves behind thousands of flensed walrus carcasses as it set sails for home.
Besides the difficult and sometimes ruthless subject matter, Logbook for Grace is truly a fascinating chronicle. In the form of a diary that in more ways than one gives the reader an honest and vivid description of a sea journey in the twilight days of the sail, it can be read as a zoologist's notebook, a fanciful and engaging adventure story, and as an unorthodox love letter all rolled into one. Robert Cushman Murphy details the life, sights, crew, whales and birds with ardor, discipline and intellect that imbues his descriptions with a sense of wonder and serenity. The grim, yet evocative tale of the daily struggles, the brutality of life and death at sea, and of the unimaginable wonders of the natural world that he faithfully pens to his young bride, offers something for everyone who's looking for a dignified human response to both remarkable and unremarkable daily events.
Through the shifting subtleties of scientific, academic and every day practice of the whaler, the reader is left with a testament, not only to our blood drenched history on the world's oceans, but to our complex and predominant relationship with nature itself.
May 4, 2019
I read this at the centennial of Cushman's voyage to the South Georgia Island. In the tradition of Darwin, the 25 years old naturalist boards an anachronistic whaling ship armed with a camera (Garflex), volumes of books (Shakespeare and Dante included) and guns with the purpose of collecting specimens for the American Museum of Natural History. The book is a testimony to a remark Cushman makes in a passage of this book about how he is of the last generation of classically trained scientists who know Latin and read poetry. The prose is engaging and the passage eventful. The voyage itself is a snapshot of the time of the last windjammers sailing the oceans juxtaposed with horrors of a newly emerging industrial shipping and whaling; The shores of the far flung antarctic island are strewn with carcasses and bones of thousands upon thousands of whales that are harpooned with cannons aboard steamers and dragged to the processing stations on shore. Also new species of whales are being harvested thanks to the exploding harpoons that fill the whale with gas so it doesn't sink. Once the crew arrive on the shores of South Georgia Island, they set on a wholesale massacre of sea elephants and stealing and breaking of penguin eggs. The greed and stinginess of the Nantucket captain of the Yankee ship, mostly crewed by West Indians and Cape Verdeans, the death and malnutrition of the crew, the the slave labor of criminals on board hark back to an era that has thankfully passed, or has it?
January 25, 2021
This book is basically a journal of one man's studies while he was on a voyage to the south Georgia islands to find some whales for research. It is written as a log basically. With it starting off with him on his voyage to the islands, and a day by day experience on what he saw and did on the island. Take for example some of his first journal entries on the island, where he talks about the animals he's seen on his way there and weather conditions he's facing (spoiler! they're not good). Later he goes in about what his day to day life is on the island and just how insanely boring it is. With really all he does is just sort of walking around and hoping that maybe he can find something cool to document, and while those days do come sometimes. The majority of his days are just spent waiting and waiting for nothing to happen in the end. Now if we talk about the main portion of the book: the animals he documents and what he sees them do. Since his ship to get there was a whaler ship and he was going there to mainly study sea animals. We get many descriptions of whales, sharks, fish, and some birds. He talks about what he sees them do. Such as how he notices the whales sometimes just circle around the island. Or how the sharks are in fact not an incredibly aggressive species towards humans, and are in all pretty peaceful with him. He also goes into the biological side of these animals, noting down their appearances and how living out here in a cold close to Antarctica island might have affected them. Now towards the end of his stay here he gets back on his ship and reflects on what his time on the island was like. He talks about the extreme boredom he did face with the others. But was able to really find the best of it in the nearby nature and animals. Overall this was a pretty solid book. It does have it's problems though. It does sort of wind on and on for certain topics that can be seen as pretty mundane. But it does a good job in telling the reader of animals that live down here and making it into a rather interesting story of this man and his time here
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2020
I had this book which I bought many years ago so I decided to read it. It is not my usual pick of books (I hardly read non fiction ) so because it did hold my interest , I gave it 4*. Robert Cushman Murphy, a naturalist who worked at the American Museum of Natural History and who had written many books did a study aboard a whaling ship. Whaling was waning at the time but there still was money to be made. Murphy wrote a log for his wife and this was turned into this book. What I liked:
1. Perils of being at sea. 2. Studied the varieties and habits of fish, birds, animals, penguins, spiders , cockroaches ,etc. which were so abundant at the time. He points out the wonders of the sky and stars in the Southern Hemisphere . He tells us of the foods eaten, the lack of medicines and life aboard the ship; how they killed the whales for the blubber to make oil and how much money was earned. There was premonitions of possible war. I think all will find something of interest here, but most of all I appreciated the clarity of mind of the authors.
1. Perils of being at sea. 2. Studied the varieties and habits of fish, birds, animals, penguins, spiders , cockroaches ,etc. which were so abundant at the time. He points out the wonders of the sky and stars in the Southern Hemisphere . He tells us of the foods eaten, the lack of medicines and life aboard the ship; how they killed the whales for the blubber to make oil and how much money was earned. There was premonitions of possible war. I think all will find something of interest here, but most of all I appreciated the clarity of mind of the authors.
May 30, 2022
Wish I’d read this before our long trip to the Falklands in February 2020. It covers such an interesting period as society transitioned from mules to motor lorries, sail to steel in whaling and when places like South Georgia were still largely unexplored. Fascinating read about wildlife in the water and in the air, as well his comments on the rats.
August 7, 2018
What a treasure! Written upon retirement, based on letters to his new wife when he just began in the field, it's a fascinating portrait of a new scientist making sense of the world and the opportunities once available for exploration.
June 12, 2022
What a great adventure! wish i could have known this guy although I may not have wanted to accompany him on this voyage - for a book written 110 yrs ago this guy is very contemporary in his thinking on conservation, environment, race & gender equality
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July 2, 2008I recently read this book while on an expedition voyage, the Atlantic Odyssey. I departed Ushuaia, Argentina, and headed to the Antarctic Peninsula. Robert Murphy departed from Dominica, and headed to the Cape Verde Islands to pick up some whalers. My journey ended in the Cape Verde Islands! Murphy went to South Georgia where he made many studies of penguins and albatrosses in the Bay of Isles. It was ironic to be reading about his very studies while I was visiting the Bay of Isles in South Georgia. I have often wished I could have been a naturalist in pursuit of learning more about Antarctic wildlife, in the manner that he did, although he was on a whaling vessel and I was on a tourist vessel.
January 25, 2016
Logbook for Grace is adventure of a scientist from the American Natural History Museum of New York who is sent to the South Georgia Islands to collect specimens for the museum. Robert Murphy becomes part of the crew of the whaling ship the Daisy, who is commissioned to take him to the South Georgia Islands. This book is a day by day account of the journey and while it could be boring to certain readers looking for sdventure on every page, I thought the book was very real in its daily activities. Killing whales and slaughtering seals were a part of the voyage of these types of ships and there are vivid descriptions of this hunting in the book. It is amazing to think about how these sailors survived the conditions of voyages like this only to go back and do it over again.
June 3, 2013
I found Logbook for Grace: Whaling Brig Daisy, 1912-1913 by Robert Cushman Murphy (also at the NC State Library booksale), and it’s delightful. Murphy was a scientist aboard one of the last whaling ships in 1912, and his log (intended for his new bride, Grace) chronicles the end of an era. It’s a beautiful mix of youthful exuberance (Murphy was only 25, and rather excited by the whole thing), nostalgia for a fast-waning way of life, and wistful sighs (Murphy was madly in love with his young wife, and missed her terribly). I thoroughly enjoyed his adventures.
May 5, 2010
An early Time-Life book.
August 22, 2015
Though there were some very interesting facts in this book it was very dry and long winded.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews