Fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, it was decided instead to sail their 3 tiny boats for the distant South American coast. They would eventually travel over 4,500 miles, and one by one they would succumb to hunger, thirst, disease and fear.

Even though it is little remembered today, the sinking of the whaleship Essex by an enraged Sperm whale, was one of the most well known maritime disasters of the 19th century.