THE VOYAGE OF THE HURON AND THE HUNTRESS 



command; the schooner Express^ under Captain Ephraim Williams; and the 

 sloop Hero, under Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer, previously second mate of 

 the Hersilia. 



There was a second Stonington fleet sailing this same month. These were the 

 ship Clothier, under Captain Alexander Clark of Nantucket (in command of 

 this fleet), the brig Emeline, Captain Jeremiah Holmes, and the brig Catherine, 

 Captain Joseph Henfield.^^ Little is known about this second Stonington fleet. 

 Captain Edmund Fanning does not mention the fleet in his book. Captain Fanning 

 was probably the outstanding citizen of Stonington in his time. But for his writ- 

 ings, chiefly his book, "Voyages and Discoveries in the South Seas," little would 

 be known about many of the sealers of Stonington. Although he compiled much 

 of his chapter on the South Shetlands in his old age, after he had outlived his son 

 and contemporaries, much of it is valuable. His lack of dates and related se- 

 quences offers many puzzles to the historian. But comparison with other sources, 

 chiefly logbooks, can bring into better perspective much of its important ma- 

 terial. His confusion of the 1820-21 and the 1821-22 voyages of the Stoning- 

 ton sealers has caused many misinterpretations, and this has brought about 

 considerable misunderstanding. 



As for both these Stonington fleets, the comment of a neighboring editor is 

 best quoted: ". . . May the success of this fleet be equal to the enterprising spirit 

 of its owners." 



From Nantucket during the summer of 1820 three sealing schooners sailed, 

 but only two of these were intended for the South Shetlands — the Harmony, 

 Captain Thomas Ray, which left in July, and the Huntress, Captain Christopher 

 Burdick, which sailed August 4, 1820.^^ The schooner William & Nancy, Cap- 

 tain Folger, was at the Falklands this season, but arrived at the Shetlands much 

 later than the other two. The whale ship Samuel, Captain Innot, also sailed to 

 the Shetlands after learning of the new discovery while off Cape Horn, but she 

 also arrived too late in the season for sealing.^^ 



The Byers' fleet from New York was an important factor in the South Shet- 

 land exploration during this 1820-1821 season. The leading vessel was the 

 brig Jane Maria, under command of Captain Robert Johnson, destined to be- 

 come a leading Antarctic explorer. His companion vessels were the brig Aurora, 

 Captain Macy, and schooner Henry, Captain B. Bruno. Another vessel to figure 

 in the development of the South Shetland exploration was the brig Charity, 

 listed as out of Baltimore but actually of New York. This mysterious craft was 

 commanded by Captain Charles H. Barnard, perhaps one of the most adventure- 

 encompassed mariners then alive. Seven years before he had been marooned in 

 the Falklands when the crew of a shipwrecked British ship (which he had be- 

 friended) turned on him, forcibly took his vessel, and left him and four others 

 to live in solitude for two years before being rescued." 



Salem was represented by a ship (which may have been the General Knox, 

 Captain William B. Orne) ; the brig Nancy, with Captain Benjamin Upton as 

 master, and his tender, the schooner Governor Brooks. Sailing from Boston 



[16] 



