. 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. attractive of allthe old salts were those who were grizzled with age, bronzedwith tropical suns, and strengthened by battling with thestorm-kings of the Bay of Biscay, Cape Horn, and a hundredother regions. I was often invited to come aboard and seeall the sailors eat out of one kid without biting one another. On such occasions the coarse repast wou
. 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. attractive of allthe old salts were those who were grizzled with age, bronzedwith tropical suns, and strengthened by battling with thestorm-kings of the Bay of Biscay, Cape Horn, and a hundredother regions. I was often invited to come aboard and seeall the sailors eat out of one kid without biting one another. On such occasions the coarse repast would be seasonedwith broad jokes, keen witticisms, jolly songs, and sometimesby a hornpipe, and the hours would glide unnoticed by untilthe watch sounded eight bells. Then I reluctantly wenthome to dream of top-sails and reef-tackle, bowlines andclew-lines, with a faint flavor of the reported beauties ofFayal and the girls of Spain. So my readers will see that I naturally became entranced DOCK LOAFING. 17 with the bright side of a sailors life as it appeared to me, inthe persons of certain seamen, officers, and men who wentand came at regular intervals, as the duties of the servicerequired. The other side, including the hardships and trials,. sufferings and dangers, if they were mentioned at all, tooksuch a romantic shape in my mind that they seemed unrealand so lost their proper effect. The pleasures of a sailorslife were my hopes and aspirations, the rest I did not fear— l8 DOCK LOAFING. how could I fear what I knew not ? Personal experiencealone can teach those lessons which are, after all, the essen-tial elements in character, and of that I had my share, aswill appear before my line is run out. But as I intend to present as complete a picture, in as fewwords as possible, of the influences that induced me to goto sea, I must again refer to the log of my early life whilewith Mr. Crapser at Quebec. His business was chiefly ship-ping square timber to Europe, and while the vesse
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectseafari, bookyear1887
