He was a born adventurer, going to sea at the age of 17 and serving before the mast as A.B.
In 1840 the notes of his sea-trip were published under the title Two Years Before the Mast.
The lower one is attached to the carriage, and the upper one is pulled out as far as it will go and retained in position by catches before the mast is raised.
At that port the adventurers separated, three of their number taking ship as passengers to London, while Ito and Inouye preferred to work their passages before the mast in the "Pegasus," bound for the same destination.
He entered Harvard in the class of 1835, but at the beginning of his junior year an illness affecting his sight necessitated a suspension of his college work, and in August 1834 he shipped before the mast for California, returning in September 1836.
