''The Cruise of the Snark'' (1911) is a non-fictional, illustrated book by

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

chronicling his sailing adventure in 1907 across the south

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

in his

ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch fr ...

the ''Snark''. Accompanying London on this voyage was his wife

Charmian London Charmian London ( née Kittredge; November 27, 1871 – January 14, 1955) was an American writer and the second wife of Jack London. Early life "Clara" Charmian Kittredge was born to poet and writer Dayelle "Daisy" Wiley and California hotelier ...

and a small crew. London taught himself celestial navigation and the basics of sailing and of boats during the course of this adventure and describes these details to the reader. He visits exotic locations including the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, and his first-person accounts and photographs provide insight into these remote places at the beginning of the 20th century.

About the ''Snark''

In 1906, Jack London began to build a 45-foot yacht on which he planned a round-the-world voyage, to last seven years. The ''Snark'' was named after

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

's 1876 poem ''

The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony in 8 Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight por ...

''. She had two masts and was 45 feet long at the waterline and 55 feet on deck, and London claimed to have spent thirty thousand dollars on her construction. She was primarily sail power; however, she also had an auxiliary 70-horsepower engine. She carried one lifeboat. After many delays, Jack and Charmian London and a small crew sailed out of San Francisco Bay on April 23, 1907, bound for the South Pacific. One of London's crew members was young Martin Johnson from Kansas. Following the cruise of the ''Snark'', Martin became an adventurer and world traveler, making some of the earliest motion pictures of unexplored or less-explored areas and peoples of the earth.Johnson, Osa, ''I Married Adventure'', first published 1940, reprint by Kodansha Globe, New York (1997). The anchor, banister ropes, and oars from ''Snark'' were incorporated into the Los Feliz estate of conductor John A. Van Pelt built in the 1930s. The anchor from ''Snark'' was made into a chandelier and the oars were used as balcony beams.

Locations visited by the ''Snark''

Jack London the building of The Snark 1906

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

The ''Snark'' first set sail out of

on April 23, 1907 following construction and several months of delay. *

While in Hawaii, London learned the "Royal Sport" of surfing, visited the

Leper Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

colony on Molokai and traveled by horseback on Maui up and across Haleakala and to

Hana Hana or HANA may refer to: Places Europe * Haná, an ethnic region in Moravia, Czech Republic * Traianoupoli, Greece, called Hana during the Ottoman period * Hana, Norway, a borough in the city of Sandnes, Norway West Asia * Hana, Iran, a ci ...

. *

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

including the island of Taiohee *

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...

including the town of Papeete, and the islands of

Raiatea Raiatea or Ra'iatea ( Tahitian: ''Ra‘iātea'') is the second largest of the Society Islands, after Tahiti, in French Polynesia. The island is widely regarded as the "centre" of the eastern islands in ancient Polynesia and it is likely that the ...

, *

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands. The Leeward Islands comprise the western part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, which is an overseas collectivity of the French R ...

* Fiji *

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

, Malaita,

Langa Langa Lagoon Langa Langa Lagoon or ''Akwalaafu'' is a natural lagoon on the West coast of Malaita near the provincial capital Auki within the Solomon Islands. The lagoon is 21 km in length and just under 1 km wide. The "lagoon people" or "salt wa ...

, Laulasi Island * Australia The Londons ended their voyage at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands and travelled to Sydney on the steamer SS ''Makambo''. Jack spent five weeks in a hospital recovering from infections and illness. A skeleton crew brought the ''Snark'' from the Solomons to Australia where she was sold for a fraction of the build-costs. The Londons departed Australia on the SS ''Tymeric'', bound for Ecuador April 8, 1909.

Media coverage

London's voyage garnered some media attention from the point when he first set out into the Pacific. Concern was raised that the ''Snark'' might be lost when London failed to arrive in the Marquesas Islands on schedule.

Related works

Jack London's ''The Lepers of Molokai'' first appeared as articles in the ''Woman's Home Companion'' (1908) and the ''Contemporary Review'' (1909). Additional essays from the voyage also appeared in ''

The Pacific Monthly ''The Pacific Monthly'' was a magazine of politics, culture, literature, and opinion, published in Portland, Oregon, United States from 1898 to 1911, when it was purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad and merged with its magazine, '' Sunset''. ' ...

'' and ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' prior to publication of the ''Cruise of the Snark.'' Charmian Kittredge London subsequently wrote three books detailing their adventures aboard the ''Snark'' and their extended visits in Hawaii: *''The Log of the Snark'' (1915) *''Our Hawaii'' (1917) *''Our Hawaii: Islands and Islanders'' (1917) These works provide daily details on the activities of the crew. A comparison with Jack London's book reveals how he highlighted episodes of most interest to his readers, such as surfing. Charmian London's books reveal much more description of the cultures they encountered, along with criticism of the effects of colonization. Tucker notes how Charmian distinguishes her accounts from prior women travelog writers in being the sole woman with an all-male crew. This leads to her close reading of gender and hierarchies throughout the voyage.

References

External links

''The Cruise of the Snark'' ebook online at Project Gutenberg
*
Jack London After 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Builds The Snark: Original Letter
Shapell Manuscript Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruise of the Snark 1911 books Sailing books Books by Jack London Non-fiction novels Macmillan Publishers books