Benjamin Morrell

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Engraving, around 1830
Morrell and Byers-In and other Phantom Islands northwest of Hawai on JRO-Globus around 1960

Benjamin Morrell (born July 5, 1795 in Rye , Westchester County , New York , † 1839 in Portuguese East Africa ) was an American sailing captain and explorer who made a number of voyages between 1822 and 1831, mainly to the Southern Ocean and the Islands of the Pacific , which he described in the colorful memoir A Narrative of Four Voyages .

He claims to have been the first to set foot on Bouvet Island in December 1822 . His description of the island is clearly taken from Lindsay and Norris' descriptions (→ Thompson Island (South Atlantic) ).

Morrell's reputation with his colleagues was shaped by the falsehoods and fantasies that were said of him, which were based on his reports, some of which were written by a ghostwriter , especially those of his experiences in Antarctica , which are also controversial among geographers and historians. According to Burton R. Pollin , Morrell's ghostwriter was the magazine editor and drama writer Samuel Woodworth (1784-1842).

Even if Morrell is perhaps not the personal author of the forgeries ascribed to him, he undoubtedly - as Woodworth's obvious client - accepted them with approval or gave his name for them. The “souped-up” content of his book could not have remained completely hidden from him. Morrell sacrificed his literary and scientific fame to the promotional effects of Woodworth's seaman's thread. This is unfortunate because "... the truth itself was quite interesting."

The sub-Antarctic Morrell Island , Morrell Point and Morrell Reef are named after Morrell . The name of the island also refers to the phantom island of Morrell near the Byers Island, also named by Morrell, northwest of Kure , Hawaii . Morrell Island and Byer Island are already listed under the heading DOUBTFUL ISLANDS AND REEFS in the 1899 Official Maritime Manual . Nevertheless, they are still at a JRO - globe drawn from about 1960 along with three other phantom islands northwest of Kure.

Works

  • A narrative of Four Voyages to the South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Ocean from the Year 1822 to 1831 ( Online , English)

literature

  • James Fairhead: The Captain and "the Cannibal": An Epic Story of Exploration, Kidnapping, and the Broadway Stage. Yale University Press, 2015. ISBN 978-0-300-19877-5

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bouvetøya . Archived from the original on April 4, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Burton R. Pollin : Poe's life reflected through the sources of 'Pym' . In: Richard Kopley (Ed.): Poe's 'Pym'. Critical explorations , Durham & London 1992 (pp. 95-103), p. 100
  3. ^ Henry M. Stommel: Lost islands. The story of islands, that have vanished from nautical charts , Vancouver 1984, pp. 26f.
  4. ^ Hydrographic Office: The Hawaiian Islands and the Islands, Rocks and Shoals to the Westward. Washington 1899 , p. 53
personal data
SURNAME Morrell, Benjamin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sailing captain and explorer
DATE OF BIRTH July 5, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Rye , Westchester County , New York
DATE OF DEATH 1839
Place of death Portuguese East Africa