 British and American whaling vessels were regular visitors to the islands, starting with the "London" (Captain Joshua Coffin) in 1795.During the maritime fur trade era of the early 19th century the islands were a source of fur seal skins, and the Juan Fernández fur seal was nearly driven to extinction.In his book, "Two Years Before the Mast" (Chapter VII), Richard Henry Dana, Jr. described the islands as he found them circa 1834.