Voyage of the Liberdade

by Joshua Slocum

Overview

"Voyage of the Liberdade" recounts a remarkable true story of survival and resilience at sea. Written by Captain Joshua Slocum, this historical account details the harrowing shipwreck of the "Liberdade" off the coast of Brazil. A gripping tale of maritime adventure and exploration, the book chronicles the challenges and triumphs faced during the voyage. Discover the extraordinary details of this seafaring journey. Slocum's firsthand narrative offers a unique glimpse into the realities of 19th-century sea travel and the indomitable spirit of those who dared to navigate the open ocean. A classic of adventure and maritime history, "Voyage of the Liberdade" is essential reading for anyone fascinated by true stories of courage and perseverance in the face of adversity.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781022969049
Publisher:	Anson Street Press
Publication date:	03/28/2025
Pages:	118
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.31(d)

Read an Excerpt

Joshua Slocum is widely known for his Sailing Around the World Alone, the story of his solo circumnavigation. The Voyage of the Liberdade, his first book, is equally compelling. In it he recounts his journey to Brazil and back - he sailed down on the Aquidneck, his own ship, and returned on the Liberdade, which he built there. What happened?

Slocum describes sailing from port to port in Brazil, trying to take in and deliver enough cargo on the Aquidneck to make her voyage profitable. Through a series of mishaps he is saddled with a crew which turns out to be composed of brigands, not sailors:

"My pirates thought their opportunity had surely come to capture the Aquidneck, and this they undertook to do. The ringleader of the gang was a burly scoundrel, whose boast was that he had "licked both the mate and second mate of the last vessel he had sailed in, and had "busted the captain in the jaw"...Near midnight, my wife, who had heard the first footstep on deck, quietly wakened me, saying, "We must get up, and look out for ourselves! Something is going wrong on deck; the boat tackle has been let go with a great deal of noise..." My first impulse was to step on deck in the usual way, but the earnest entreaties of my wife awoke me, like, to a danger that should be investigated with caution. Arming myself therefore, with a stout carbine repeater, and eight ball cartridges in the magazine, I stepped on deck abaft instead of forward, where evidently I had been expected..."

Slocum, who landed in jail for shooting a one of the mutineers, eventually lost the Aquidneck on the reefs. Not wanting to remain a castaway in Brazil, he and his family build the Liberdade, the ship that would bring them home:

"Her dimensions being - 35 feet in length over all, 7-1/2 feet breadth of beam, and 3 feet depth of hold, who shall say that she was not large enough? Her model I got from my recollections of Cape Ann dories and from a photo of a very elegant Japanese sampan which I had before me on the spot, so, as it might be expected, when finished, she resembled both types of vessel in some degree. Her rig was the Chinese sampan style, which is, I consider, the most convenient boat rig in the whole world. This was the boat, or canoe I prefer to call it, in which we purposed to sail for North America and home. Each one had been busy during the construction and past misfortunes had all been forgotten. Madam had made the sails - and very good sails they were, too!"

Join the self-reliant and intrepid Slocum on his voyage and gain a glimpse into the romantic era that vanished when steam took over. And perhaps his book will inspire you to follow in his footsteps in your own Liberdade!

Table of Contents

	Greeting	1
Chapter I2
	The ship
	The crew
	A hurricane
	Cape Verde Islands
	Frio
	A pampeiro
Chapter II9
	Montevideo
	Beggars
	Antonina for mate
	Antonina to Buenos Aires
	The bombelia
Chapter III12
	Salvage of a cargo of wine
	Sailors happy
	Cholera in the Argentine
	Death in the land
	Dutch Harry
	Pete the Greek
	Noted crimps
	Boat lost
	Sail for Ilha Grande
	Expelled from the port
	Serious hardships
Chapter IV22
	Ilha Grande decree
	Return to Rosario
	Waiting opening of the Brazilian ports
	Scarcity of sailors
	Buccaneers turned pilots
	Sail down the river
	Arrive at Ilha Grande the second time
	Quarantined and fumigated
	Admitted to pratique
	Sail for Rio
	Again challenged
	Rio at last
Chapter V30
	At Rio
	Sail for Antonina with mixed cargo
	A pampeiro
	Ship on beam-ends
	Cargo still more mixed
	Topgallant-masts carried away
	Arrive safely at Antonina
Chapter VI33
	Mutiny
	Attempt at robbery and murder
	Four against one
	Two go down before a rifle
	Order restored
Chapter VII41
	Join the bark at Montevideo
	A good crew
	Small-pox breaks out
	Bear up for Maldonado and Flores
	No aid
	Death of sailors
	To Montevideo in distress
	Quarantine
Chapter VIII51
	A new crew
	Sail for Antonina
	Load timber
	Native canoes
	Loss of the Aquidneck
Chapter IX57
	The Building of the Liberdade
Chapter X70
	Across the bar
	The run to Santos
	Tow to Rio by the steamship
	At Rio
Chapter XI77
	Sail from Rio
	Anchor at Cape Frio
	Encounter with a whale
	Sunken treasure
	The schoolmaster
	The merchant
	The good people at the village
	A pleasant visit
Chapter XII84
	Sail from Frio
	Round Cape St. Thome
	High seas and swift currents
	In the "trades"
	Dangerous reefs
	Run into harbour unawares, on a dark and stormy night
	At Caravellas
	Fine weather
	A gale
	Port St. Paulo
	Treacherous natives
	Sail for Bahia
Chapter XIII90
	At Bahia
	Meditations on the discoverers
	The Caribbees
Chapter XIV94
	Bahia to Pernambuco
	The meeting of the Finance at sea
	At Pernambuco
	Round Cape St. Roque
	A gale
	Breakers
	The stretch to Barbadoes
	Flying fish alighting on deck
	Dismasted
	Arrive at Carlysle Bay
Chapter XV106
	At Barbadoes
	Mayaguez
	Crossing the Bahama Banks
	The Gulf Stream
	Arrival on the coast of South Carolina
Chapter XVI119
	Ocean currents
	Visit to South Santee
	At the Typee River
	Quarantined
	South Port and Wilmington, N.C.
	Inland sailing to Beaufort, Norfolk, and Washington, D.C.
	Voyage ended
	Disposal of the Liberdade	131