. Recollections of a sea wanderer's life; an autobiography of an old-time seaman who has sailed in almost every capacity before and abaft the mast, in nearly every quarter of the globe, and under the flags of four of the principal maritime nations. gedmy father to teach him the secret of dying sealskins in theEnglish manner, paying him a thousand guineas for thatinformation. With this capital in cash he went to Montreal, Canada,where he began business in furs for himself. As might beexpected, and as my readers must suppose, a young manwith a thousand guineas and a prospect of a good business,b
. Recollections of a sea wanderer's life; an autobiography of an old-time seaman who has sailed in almost every capacity before and abaft the mast, in nearly every quarter of the globe, and under the flags of four of the principal maritime nations. gedmy father to teach him the secret of dying sealskins in theEnglish manner, paying him a thousand guineas for thatinformation. With this capital in cash he went to Montreal, Canada,where he began business in furs for himself. As might beexpected, and as my readers must suppose, a young manwith a thousand guineas and a prospect of a good business,being a fine prize for some young maid, my father wascaptured. I never knew exactly how it happened, but haveevery reason to believe that it was an old-fashioned match, 12 SPINNING A YARN. such as Giles Fletcher sang about two hundred and fiftyyears ago: Love the strqng and weak doth yoke,And makes the ivy climb the oak ;Under whose shadows lions wild,Softened by love, grow tame and mild. Captured and married in 1818. There is not much more to say about my father, and whatthere is, as you will see, is not very consoling to me as hisson and heir. I was honored with a first appearance as hisson in the morning of June 17, 1821; but the honor of. CHINESE CARICATURE OF A SAILOR SPINNING YARNS. inheriting any of his wealth was denied me, perhaps for thebest of reasons—so that I might make headway for myself onthe sea of life. Just exactly why the 17th of June was selected for myfirst appearance on deck is not so clear. I have con-sulted all sorts of almanacs, farmers and nautical; inquiredof the only reliable and highly gifted astrologers, had myhoroscope constructed several times by the most learnedadepts in occult knowledge, but all in vain. Nor doeshistory afford any light on the question. There is no record SPINNING A YARN. 13 of earthquakes, meteors, comets, tidal waves, or even adecent-sized epidemic of that time, which might haveheralded the advent of a stranger in the house
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectseafari, bookyear1887
