M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary

Wed Jan 21 14:37:19 CST 2015

I believe the "tradition of the Service," especially with the naval
triumphs of 1759 so recent, was to press an inconclusive engagement --
although obviously a captain had, well, leeway when (as in this case) his
opponent could make more speed and was closer to a friendly, gun-protected
harbor.

On Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 2:19 PM, David Ewers <dsewers at comcast.net> wrote:

> Very cool.  Thanks.
>
> Funny that it was the Unicorn that told them who they'd fought.
>
> Anyone get the impression, while reading the account of the battle between
> the Seahorse and the l'Grand, that it was as much a battle between ships as
> it was a battle between men?  The *Seahorse*, smaller and less well
> armed, but with a Reputation for Nerve earned in across the Atlantic; vs.
> the *l'Grand*, larger, more powerful, but with less moxie... like a
> Melancholick Regional Manager of the Channel?  And Captain Smith who "must
> give chase" in what is presented as the more wounded vessel?  Is it his
> choice?
>
> On Jan 20, 2015, at 4:45 PM, Becky Lindroos wrote:
>
> I don’t know the answer to your question, Laura (although it’s a good
> one!) -  but did you peek inside?  Wow - all those little notes and numbers
> in Mason’s handwriting.  He doesn’t have every day but he includes the
> date, time, ????,  Course, Winds and Remarks.  January 9th on page 5 is
> pretty interesting -
>
>
> http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/pageturn.html?id=MEDREN_2486434&doubleside=0&rotation=0&size=2&currentpage=5
> or
> http://tinyurl.com/np49do4
>
> or to start from the cover go to:
> http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/pageturn.html?id=MEDREN_2486434&
> then click the single arrow pointing right in the grey section above the
> book.
>
> Bekah/Becky
>
> On Jan 20, 2015, at 4:16 PM, kelber at mindspring.com wrote:
>
>
> Some cool stuff, Becky (though I thought I'd posted that first link).
>
>
> The description (and picture!) of Mason's logbook says that the Seahorse
> left port on January 8, and encountered the l'Grand on the 9th. Did Pynchon
> change the departure date because he wanted it to fall on a fateful Friday,
> (assuming he looked it up in a perpetual calendar)?
>
>
> "the Astronomer's Symbol for Friday is also that of the planet Venus
> herself" [p. 27]
>
>
> http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/detail.html?id=MEDREN_2486434
>
>
> Laura
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Becky Lindroos <bekker2 at icloud.com>
>
> Sent: Jan 20, 2015 6:58 PM
>
> To: alice malice <alicewmalice at gmail.com>
>
> Cc: pynchon -l <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>
> Subject: Re: M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary
>
>
> This is a  long article in “The Mason & Dixon Line Preservation
> Partnership,”  a project of inventorying the stone markers set by the
> surveyors.
>
>
> This article is the second in a series of articles about the early
> documenting of the Transit of Venus in 1761 and 1768.  Only the first
> article is to really our purpose - published in 9/10 1997 (the same year as
> M&D).  It has dates of departure and other info - like the French
> competitors and the reasons for doing the observations and documentations
> from far flung places:
>
>
> http://www.mdlpp.org/pdf/library/SeahorseMdTransitofVenus.pdf
>
> The bibliography is pathetic - only the author’s prior article and one
> other.  Oh well …
>
>
> And Mason’s grave got a memorial stone in 2013:
>
>
> http://www.pobonline.com/articles/97045-charles-mason-receives-memorial-stone-at-burial-site
>
>
> Mason’s logbook:
>
> http://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren/detail.html?id=MEDREN_2486434
>
>
> Lotsa links about the historical M&D:
>
> http://www.mdlpp.org/?page=links
>
>
> Bekah
>
> just more history -
>
>
> On Jan 20, 2015, at 1:47 PM, alice malice <alicewmalice at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Sorry, I confused here; Cope doesn't provide the date of departure
>
> but others do so P has the date.
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 2:30 PM,  <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
> If the dates are vague, why does Pynchon pinpoint January 9, 1761 as the
> day the Seahorse gets under way at last (presumably, after the repairs)? If
> the date doesn't correspond to the actual date, what significance does it
> hold for Pynchon?
>
>
> Laura
>
> (finally back, after some disastrous email problems)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: alice malice <alicewmalice at gmail.com>
>
> Sent: Jan 19, 2015 7:55 PM
>
> To: "pynchon-l at waste.org" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>
> Subject: Re: M&D Deep Duck: Section 4 summary
>
>
> Cope provides a brief description, adequate to Pynchon's narrative.
>
> The departure day is not provided, only December 1760, the Arrival
>
> day, 27th April. Cope says it took the whole month of January to
>
> repair the damage, and that during this time, a number of spirited
>
> letters were exchanged between Mason and Dixon and the Officers of the
>
> RS, and that M&D had proposed a Near East station, but that such
>
> proposal was rejected by the RS.
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 18, 2015 at 8:09 PM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear historians: did M & D do this in real life? And same time?
>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> On Jan 18, 2015, at 4:42 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>
> My summary. Please, everyone, point out and attack my misreads.
>
>
> Part 4:
>
>
> Cherrycoke reminisces to his assembled audience -- which includes his
> niece Tenebrae, her brothers Pitt and Pliny, their father LeSpark, who we
> now learn made his fortune in weapon sales, and LeSpark's nephew Ethelmer
> -- on break from Princeton. Cherrycoke is reminiscing about traveling with
> Mason and Dixon on the frigate Seahorse, en route to Sumatra, to observe
> the Transit of Venus. But an event occurs -- well-known already to
> Cherrycoke's assembled audience -- which he now relates to us.
>
>
> Mason and Dixon are annoyed to discover that they're apparently being
> charged for their passage by Captain Smith. It turns out to be a
> misunderstanding, and Dixon warms up to the Captain when he discovers he
> enjoys a drink. But there's impending doom on the horizon -- we and
> Cherrycoke's immediate audience know that the French warship l'Grand is
> lurking in the Channel. Mason, in particular, seems to sense it. It turns
> out Ben Coolen (their destination on Sumatra) has fallen to the French, and
> the Captain's been warned by the Admiralty not to sail for it. So they’re
> going to head for the Cape of Good Hope instead.
>
>
> As the ship sails through the Channel -- considered the most dangerous
> body of water in the world by some of its sailors -- we learn something of
> both the captain and his ship. Smith, captain of a near-warship (it lacks
> the full complement of guns) is, himself, no man of war. He'd prefer to be
> sharing a drink and having a philosophical chat with the two Men of Science
> on board. The ship, though, has a proud military record, having served with
> distinction in Quebec. While the sailors sing a chanty wherein they rhyme
> Sumatra with Cleopatra, Cherrycoke discourses on the meaning of the ship's
> motto, Eques Sit AEques, which he translates as "Let the Sea-Knight who
> would command this Sea-Horse be ever fair-minded." At which point the
> l'Grand appears on the horizon, and, being a French ship, its intentions
> are clearly hostile.
>
>
> The l'Grand proceeds to kick the shit out of the Seahorse. Cherrycoke,
> Mason and Dixon, terrified, are dispatched below to serve as makeshift
> medical aides as the casualties pile up. Finally, the l'Grand stops the
> mayhem and moves on. Cherrycoke's never been sure what transpired, and he
> speculates that either the French captain realized there were men of
> science aboard, signaling: France is not at war with the sciences. Or maybe
> he just realized that the Seahorse was not a worthy foe: You are leetluh
> meennow -- I throw you back. Captain Smith, distraught over the dead and
> wounded lashes out at M and D: Are you two really that important? On deck,
> Mason and Dixon commune over a couple of bottles of grog. Dixon: More like
> a Transit of Mars ...? And the Seahorse limps back to the dockyard.
>
>
> -
>
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
>
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
>
>
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