Report of the Cruise of the Revenue Marine Steamer Corwin in the Arctic Ocean in the year 1884.

Washington. GPO. 1889. Hardcover. 4to. 28cm, 129p. with 40 plates [16 being full-page, 22 with double illustrations, & 2 full colour lithographed bird plates], original brown cloth boards, gilt titles, some wear at the edges, a very good to fine copy. (ads) A.B. 18400. The expedition sailed to the Bering and Chukcki Seas, during which an exploring party under Lt. Cantwell (A Narrative of the Exploration of the Kowak (Kobuk) River); landed at Hotham Inlet on Kotzebue Sound to survey the Kokuk River. The report includes details of the local illness that Eskimos, the natural history of maritime Alaska, and information concerning a new volcano in the Bering Sea. (illustrated with 6 photographs). Healy was born on a plantation in Georgia, the son of an Irish immigrant father and a slave mother. Among his brothers were Patrick Healy, a Jesuit priest who became president of Georgetown University, and James A. Healy, the first African-American Bishop of Portland, Maine. He ran away from home twice to go to sea, and ultimately became the first African-American Commander in the service of the Coast Guard, having joined the Revenue Cutter in 1865. Apparently Jack London's novel, Sea Wolf, was based in part of the noteworthy life of Captain Healy. His race was strategically ignored during the tenure of his long and distinguished service for the Coast Guard. He spent the last portion of his career cruising up and down the Alaskan Coast, aimed at controlling contraband trade and supervising the whaling fleet. A film biography about him, made for television, was produced during 1999. Item #37867

Price: $350.00

See all items by ,