Thomas F. Heffernan offers his telling of the already thoroughly-told tale of mutineer and altogether delusional madman, Samuel Comstock. Had I not already read what can only be called “superior” versions of this fantastically interesting piece of whaling and nautical history, I might have enjoyed Heffernan’s a bit more. While Comstock is definitely no angel, Heffernan’s treatment of him is, sadly, abysmal. Heffernan comes off as the snarky commentator rather than the learned historian (which he claims to be).
Perhaps the most chilling parts of this book are found among its numerous appendices which include the complete account of the whole ordeal as told by Samuel Comstock’s brother George, written upon his (i.e., George’s) return to Nantucket and, allegedly, never before published in full. Nevertheless, despite numerous tangential meanderings Heffernan makes, he does succeed in capturing just how altogether eerie and disturbing Samuel Comstock was, beginning in his childhood. The image of Samuel Comstock that Heffernan succeeds in painting stays with the reader throughout the entire tale.
All told, there are better tales of this astonishing piece of nautical and whaling history out there. To begin, one might start with Gregory Gibson’s version in “Demon of the Waters.” Also, this book, at least in my mind, conjures fantastic images of those early days, not necessarily of whaling, but of exploration of the South Pacific/South Seas. To get a great account of that era of nautical history, look to Nathaniel Philbrick’s “Sea of Glory – America’s Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition 1838-1842,” my review of which shall be forthcoming in the future. Likewise, the tales of the US Ex. Ex. are thoroughly enjoyed in conjunction with Peter C. Newman’s excellent book, “Empire Of The Bay – The Company of Adventurers That Seized A Continent” (my review of which I will also post, at some point) an absolutely amazing story of the Hudson Bay Company, for which John Rae (discussed below) did so much of his travels/explorations.
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