. Nelson and his captains : sketches of famous seamen . d of power, rare even amongst Nelsons spectator, who saw Riou step ashore at theCape of Good Hope, from the battered hull of theGuardian, which, by well-nigh the most heroic featof seamanship on record, he had brought safe intoport, describes him as the most godlike mortal Iever viewed. His portrait by Shelley is verystriking. The eyes are open and frank; the featureshave an expression of mingled steadfastness andmodesty. But the whole face has, with all itsnobility and strength, a look of half sad gravity,the seriousness of
. Nelson and his captains : sketches of famous seamen . d of power, rare even amongst Nelsons spectator, who saw Riou step ashore at theCape of Good Hope, from the battered hull of theGuardian, which, by well-nigh the most heroic featof seamanship on record, he had brought safe intoport, describes him as the most godlike mortal Iever viewed. His portrait by Shelley is verystriking. The eyes are open and frank; the featureshave an expression of mingled steadfastness andmodesty. But the whole face has, with all itsnobility and strength, a look of half sad gravity,the seriousness of a man who has looked death inthe face a hundred times, and whose daily businessit was to contend with all the destructive forces ofnature, with ice and storm and darkness—as wellas to wage battle with human enemies. Of Rious early career curiously little is very year of his birth is doubtful. While yeta middy he joined the Discovery under CaptainClerke. Clerko was a seaman trained in the schoolof exploration. He had been a midshipman under. CAPTAIN EDWARD RIOU After a miniature hy Shelley CAPTAIN EDWARD RIOU 89 Byron in his voyage round the world in 1764-66 ;he was a masters mate in the Endeavour with Cookin his first great voyage of discovery; and secondlieutenant of the Resolution in Cooks second expedi-tion. When Cook was killed in 1779 Clerke tookcommand in his place. Under such a teacher, andtrained in such a school, Riou became a seamanof the finest type, cool, hardy, fearless, and full ofresource. It was his unique seamanship, in fact,which gave him his first great chance in life, andis still his most enduring title to fame. The wreck of the Guardian was a very memorablesea disaster, and, in all the records of British sea-manship, there is to be found no other example ofresource, of exhaustless daring, of the triumph ofhuman courage over the hostile forces of Nature,that outshines the story of how Riou brought thewater-logged and battered hull of the Guardian
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgreatbr, bookyear1902
