Captain Henry Green (1794-1873) was born in Sag Harbor, New York and went to sea for the first time aboard the Fair Helen in 1817 as a lowly "green" hand. Through determination and hard work he became master of the Hannibal and many other whaling vessels during his twenty-six-year career. Since his life was immersed in whaling, the reader can learn so much about this industry and how it influenced Sag Harbor and the people who lived there. He also became a wealthy man at the end of his seafaring time as captain of the ship Sabina. The journal he kept during that voyage gives us an insight into life on a sailing ship. Henry was involved in the spotting of the Amistad, an infamous slave ship, and in the quest for gold in San Francisco. An ordinary man who led an extraordinary life.