Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 - January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir Two Years Before the Mast. Both as a writer and as a lawyer, he was a champion of the downtrodden, from seamen to fugitive slaves and freedmen.

MY FIRST VOYAGE: The fourteenth day of August was the day fixed upon for the sailing of

the brig Pilgrim on her voyage from Boston round Cape Horn to the western coast of North America.