Twenty-Four Years After Summary and Analysis

In 1869 Dana adds an afterword to highly-successful book, intended to bring his readers, whom he considers friends, up to date on events, places, ships, captains, crews, agents, storms, and ladies whom he mentions in the original text. During a trip around the world, Dana in 1859/60 stops in California and steams between San Francisco and San Diego on the Senator. Fortuitously, Dana's fellow passenger is the elderly retired Capt. Wilson of Ayacucho. Their conversations clearly inspires this sharing with loyal readers.

Dana opens by contrasting at length primitive San Francisco Bay in 1835/36 with the city of 100,000 in 1859. San Franciscans enjoy the amenities of East Coast life but remain hungry for news from there and Europe. No sign of the hide trade remains; the Oriental Hotel stands near where Alert's boats had beached.

Dana talks at length about religion...