Nathaniel Palmer ~ by Zeke

I could feel the cool breeze brush my face as I sat at a old park bench surrounded by flowers and bushes. I remember when people would ask, "Do you remember it? Were you happy? What was it like?" They would ask these questions nonstop.

I would respond by saying, "Of course I remember the discovery," and, "Yes, I was very pleased when I decided to take the chance and go back and report what I had found." I would also say, "It wasn't all happy, though. It was hard and rough. Sit down, and let me tell you my story."


I was sitting in the cracked, dried soil of my dad's shipyard, messing with old rusted ship parts. I always helped my dad build his ships, but to him, I was just a helping hand. My gaze wondered out to the sea. I noticed a tall figure in the distance coming toward our shipyard. It got closer and closer until I finally realized that it was a ship. The dark wood of the vessel moaned as the waves splashed against its giant body. It crept up to the dock near my house. Then, it came to a stop; thick, strong ropes were thrown out to the dock and a pair of strong, weathered hands tied the ship to the dock.

One by one, six men stepped off the ship and walked my way. In a blink of an eye, they were standing in front of me. "Are you Nat?" one of them asked.

"Yes, but I would rather go by Nathaniel," I responded curiously.

"Okay..Nathaniel, my name is John, and I am the Captain of the Hersilia," he said as he made a quick gesture toward the ship. "We have seen you help your dad with his ships. You sure know your stuff, kid," he said joyfully. "Me and my men were wondering if you would like to join our sealing crew," he asked.
I hesitated for a second, then I said, "Sure, yes, I would love to. Let me go ask my dad." I was so excited, but I guess you could say that my father wasn't. I had to tell him that I was an adult and that it was time for me to make my own choices. He finally gave up with the answer of yes. I lost track of how many times I thanked him that day; I was so happy. I went to my room and gathered my things. My dad and I said our last goodbyes before I opened to door and walked out. I walked away from my old life, with the Hersilia crew at my side.


As soon as I got to the ship, the captain told me that they were going to the mythical island of Auroras. According to what he told me, it was filled with sparkling gold, shiny silver, and precious gems. Then he informed me that he was going to drop me and another sailor, whom I didn't even know, off at the Falkland islands, were we would kill bullocks for provisions. He said it fast, like he didn't want to tell me. When he told me the news, I wanted to yell! I wanted to ask why I couldn't go with him to the island. But I didn't yell; I remained quiet and obeyed. I stumbled as the boat cast off, still in a daze. I could hear the moaning of the ship as we floated off into the sea. But I snapped out of my daze when I sat down on my bunk in the cabin. I realized I was floating away from my home, away from my dad, and away from where I had spent all of my life. I was losing all of this to start a new life. Did I make the right decision? As I pondered this, my eyes slowly dimmed as they closed.

A day later I could hear the waves against the ship as I opened my eyes. The sound of the waves died down, coming to a stop along with the ship. I realized I had fallen asleep. I looked around me. I could see that I had fallen asleep on an old fishing net. The room was mostly empty but also damp and cold. While I was looking around to get my bearings, someone grabbed my arm, and whispered in my ear, "It is time for you to get off the ship." I was hoisted up onto my feet and was lead to the deck. I knew were I was going; I was going to go kill the bullocks on Falkland islands.

I tried to see the bright side. I figured that maybe I might be able to discover something and become famous; something I would be proud of. As I made my way to the deck, I could see a person with a backpack on and a old shirt on that had blue stripes. When I got to the deck, the Captain told me that the person I saw was the sailor who was going with me to hunt. Then, he threw a backpack at me and told me it was filled with a few days worth of food and hunting supplies. I nodded and walked to the sailor's side. Then the Captain said, "We will be back to pick you up in a couple of days. You'd better be getting on yer way."
We nodded, and at the same time I swung the heavy backpack over my shoulder. I walked down the ramp and onto the creaking dock. In the distance I could see an old shack and a few bullocks eating brush nearby. I took one more look up at the ship gazed into the eyes of the captain. He stared at me for a while then said quietly, "If you get a chance to do something out there, you should take it."

I answered, "Okay." But I didn't really know what he meant. I just walked toward the old wood cabin across the hard dirt. I didn't know what to think. I guess I felt abandoned and left out. Then, I thought that I was over-reacting. I figured that it's really not that bad of a task. As I walked to the cabin, I took in my surroundings. This area wasn't much. There was mostly brush, grass, bullocks, and dried hard dirt in some places. I knew these days were going to be rough and probably a bit messy. We made it to the cabin and took a look inside. It was empty except for a few things. There were two beds in the corners of the room and a few cabinets and shelves on the walls. The sailor looked at me and told me that the sun was already partly down. Then he added, "It is too late to hunt."
I agreed with him and we made a decision to get up early in the morning to get a day's work done. I shoved my backpack onto the nearest shelf and crawled into bed. I lay there thinking of what I had done. It all moved so fast; I joined a crew and then I ended up here. But I had this feeling that soon it would all add up to something. Then, my eyes slowly closed and I fell into a deep black.

I woke up from a nudge that went deep into my side. I slowly moved to the side of the bed, moving the covers with me. It was cold as I moved the covers off of me, and it made me wonder how early it was. Then without thinking, I fell out of my bed with a thud. I could hear the small crackling laughter of the sailor as I hit the ground. I responded with a growl as I got up from the ground, using the bed to help me. The door to the cabin was cracked open just enough for me to see out. It was still pretty dark out, but there was enough light to hunt. I looked over my shoulder at the sailor and told him that we should start hunting. Then he said, "Your stuff is already together over there." He nodded toward the corner of the room. I followed his nod and saw a gun and my backpack nested on the floor. I nodded and walked to the backpack. I lifted it and threw it onto my back. All in one motion, I grabbed the gun and stepped out of the door into the cold morning breeze. The sailor stepped beside me. We stood there for a moment then I said, "I never got the chance to introduce myself, my name is Nathaniel."
"Ok, Nathaniel my name is George. It is nice to meet you," He responded. I smiled and started walking.

I could see the bullocks in the distance. The sailor pointed at the herd, and told me, "We should start there."
I agreed and ran toward them. As I was running, I realized that the herd was right by the bay. I was glad to see the blue sea. It always calms me down, especially when I heard the roar of its splashes against the tall rocks of the bay. As soon as I saw the sea, I was immediately calm. When I came across a big bush near the bullocks I took off my backpack and got out my gun. I climbed up into the spiky bush to make myself more camouflaged, allowing me to make the kill. "Steady, steady," I told myself as I aimed the gun. Right when the gun was pointed at the head, a shot broke out into the air. I was thrown through the air by the force of the gunshot. I saw the bull slowly fall over as blood trickled down its head. I smile crossed my face, "Success," I hissed triumphantly.
I turned around, and looked at the sailor. He laughed out loud, "Good job!" He walked toward the bull. I followed after him as I walked on the dried grass. I noticed that it was getting to be really hot, and much lighter. When we reached the bull, he pulled out a knife. "Do you want to do the honors?" he said as he held out his knife.
"I don't know how," I said.
"That is OK; I will get the job done," he said.
I turned away not wanting to watch as he field dressed the animal. Several minutes later he was stuffing the meat into my backpack. The smell was unbearable as it circled around my nose. We spent most of the day hunting, but we only made one more kill. As he was gutting the the last beast, I looked toward to bay again. That is when I saw it. A white sail and a black wooden ship appeared by the wooden dock. It wasn't our ship; it was bigger and much different. Finally, he finished putting the horrid meat into my pack. In a flash, the strange ship was moored to the dock. We walked toward the ship without hesitation. When we reached the ship I could see a name etched into the side of the boat that read Espirito Sauto.
Afraid of being discovered, George and I turned and walked back to our cabin with curious minds about the strange ship. When we made it to the cabin, I put my backpack in the corner of the room again. George laid his pack and gun next to his bed. Things were quiet, a creepy kind of quiet. Only the low whisper of the wind was heard. I could feel a shiver down my back and the hairs stand up on my neck. It was a scary feeling, it was like all of my six senses were alive and feeling. Suddenly three knocks sounded at the cabin door. "I'll get it," George said in almost a whisper. He slowly opened the door and there stood two men. I instantly assumed that they were from the strange ship at the dock with the etched in words that read Espirito Sauto. "Hello? How can I help you?" George asked.
"Ya, I'm the captain of the Espirito Sauto and we need some help," the man said.
"Oh, okay come on in," George said gesturing for the men to enter. The man looked around like he looking for a chair but then made up his mind and sat on the bed. "Now, what can we help you with?" George asked again.
"Well it is kind of a long story, but to make it short my men and I are going to an island that is said to have tons of seals," the man said. "But the problem is we don't have any food for the journey. So we are going from place to place trying to find cheap meat to eat." My eyes widened as he heard this.
"Oh, well, I think I can help you with that. My friend Nathaniel and I just killed some bullocks and we would be happy to give you our fresh meat for free.
"That would be splendid, thank you so much for your kindness," He said. The man was a bit chubby and seemed to have red face with a big smile. He told us a lot more about the island he was visiting. He kept telling us about how many seals there were going to be and it made me want to go with him. Right then and there I knew I was going to visit that island sooner or later. That would be a place were I would want to go with the Hersilia. After we gave him our meat he left and we both fell into a deep sleep.

Part Two:

The next day I woke up to George's movements as he gathered his backpack and gear together. I asked what he was doing and he told me that the Hersilia was back to pick us up. I jumped right up out of bed and in a flash I grabbed all of my belongings. I crashed into the door and ended up outside standing on the dirt. I looked up and saw the Hersilia waiting at the dock, swaying back and forth on the gentile waves. I smiled and sprinted toward the ship. When I reached the ship I was itching to tell the captain about the Espirito Santo. I told him all about it and I urged that we should go and look for the island for our selves. When he finally agreed I told him what direction they were going and we set off for the island of the seals. With excitement I went to the room were I had fallen asleep the first day I was on the ship. I went there and sat down on the old fishing net again and rested my back against the wall. Then I fell asleep with wonders and thoughts in my head about the island we were due for.

Three days later we came across a group of islands. I knew that this was the place, I knew this is the island of the seals. I was so thankful to be at the islands. I could already see groups and groups of seals along the coast. I also could see a familiar ship in the distance, it was the Espirito Santo. When we met up with them they greeted us with surprise. We all hunted a lot on those days that we were there. More and more seals were hunted everyday and were then loaded onto the ship with the friendly help of the Espirito Santo crew. It was hard work but it gave me a chance to prove myself to my crew. By the end of the long stay we had about ten thousand seals which meant we had ten thousand seal skins. On the way back to Stonington, we would celebrate our work with songs and dances. When we arrived, we had a fortune of twenty thousand dollars from the seal skins. It was a good trip that went by too fast and I wanted more.

We went back to the island two more times. Again, we would return with cargoes full of seals. After a while we found out that the islands were the South Shetlands. I would always think of the day I joined the crew and when I left my old life. Now I had a new life, full of adventure and fortune in sealing. If it wasn't for that one decision to join this crew, none of this would have ever happened. I am so thankful I took the risk.

I am now twenty years old as I set out to sea again but this time I am part of a six-vessel expedition. We made our way to the island only to find no more population of seals, so with grumbles and frowns we decided to look for new sealing grounds. I was angry and cursed as we set off, but something in my mind was telling me that we would find something bigger - much bigger. As I thought of this and leaned against my cabin door, I looked out the window to see land. I jumped up and ran out the door with budging eyes full of interest. I stood there for a moment in shock then yelled the word, "Land!" It exploded out of my mouth.

Seals beyond what I could have imagined were bunched up along the coast. As soon as the ship hit land, I ran off the ship to touch this magnificent new land. There was fog, and it was cold. The ground was iced and the mountains seemed to be made of snow. I could see seals everywhere and something else too. It looked like strange birds that wobbled. Later I would learn they were called penguins. I was delighted at the thought that I had never seen such birds before. What a discovery. A group of sailers pulled together supplies and went to explore more of this new land. I climbed up a steep hill, and to my amazement, I saw miles and mile of land, snow, and animals. With my mouth open and my eyes wide, I knew that this wasn't just an island, it was more...much, much more!

by ~ Zeke