The tragedy of the Essex is the story of men. And a Demon.
We were headed for the edge of sanity… like we were aberrations, phantoms. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to superstition.
You know, I heard a man from Pennsylvania drilled a hole in the ground recently and found oil. That can’t be true.
Oil from the ground! Fancy that.
We were weeks in the doldrums. That part of the Pacific is more desert than ocean. The sun beating down.
Greed took hold of our captain and first mate. So we headed out. A thousand leagues along the equator. Where knowledge ended, speculation began. That’s where the whales had gone to hide. As far from man as they could possibly go. But we hunted them down. Centuries before, sailors feared sailing off the edge of the Earth. But we where headed for the edge of sanity. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to blind superstition.
Take the money and leave! The devil’s bargain.
