Neptune's Needle

Writer, world traveler, and government agent.

J. Ross Browne, as he would always be known publicly, arrived with his parents in America in 1833. His early interests were writing, drawing, and traveling. He found writing to be a gift, to which he added a modest talent in sketching. His art, mainly light caricature, remained that of an amateur, but his sketches were so clever and humorous that, when properly enhanced by professional artists and engravers, formed the illustrations for many of his magazine articles and books of later years.

Browne planned to sail to Europe but, lacking funds, had to ship out instead as an ordinary seaman on a New Bedford whaler. His passage to the Indian Ocean was ruined by the bark's bully of a captain, and Browne bought his freedom on the island of Zanzibar.

Browne used humor to expose the abuses of whaleship crews and illustrated his account with his own sketches. The articles were published in Harper's Monthly Magazine and later became chapters of his book Etchings of a Whaling Cruise (1846), a sequence that would be repeated several times in his long association with the magazine and Harper & Bros. Reviews were flattering and that of the American Review compared Browne favorably with Richard Henry Dana of Two Years Before the Mast. Herman Melville reviewed Etchings for Literary World in 1847, and the book influenced his writing of Moby Dick.

Browne was appointed as a third lieutenant in the U.S. Revenue Service with the assignment of trying to prevent the mass desertion of American merchant seamen in San Francisco's harbor. He arrived in San Francisco on 5 August 1849 after a voyage made interesting by a mutiny and a stopover at Juan Fernandez Island, off Chile. His adventures led again to articles in Harper's Monthly followed by chapters, this time in his popular book Crusoe's Island (1864). The revenue cutter Lawrence, which would have been his "base," was delayed getting to San Francisco, and Browne took a temporary commission as inspector of postal services.

Sources

Images

Public Domain Source

External Additional Sources

Compiler

Peter Richards