David goes voyaging

“I Lifted a Frigate Bird Off His Nest.”
BY DAVID BINNEY PUTNAM
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON The Knickerbocker Press 1925
Copyright, 1925 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Made in the United States of America
Mr. George Putnam has asked me to write a solemn foreword to David’s book. An ideal foreword cannot be too brief, should never be in the nature of an apology or a panegyric,—and in fact any direct reference to the subject of the volume in which it is printed is in the nature of redundancy. Its only use, as far as I can see, is a chance to exploit some idea of the foreword’s author which he can find no opportunity to print elsewhere.
I wanted to see the immediate result of a temporary shift from school to skyline, from books to boobies, of the putting of volcanoes into vacations, and of the working out of a sublimated hooky. Of the immediate personal reactions between David, myself and our gorgeous environment I can speak only with sheer enjoyment. Neither of us ever tired of exeleutherostomizing at every new thrill.
As to the sifting of all these impressions, their reclothing in words and phrases, I am looking forward with keen interest to reading David’s book when it is published, to see what has been gained or lost, in this, one of the most severe tests of the working of a human mind.
Mr. Beebe lets me call him Uncle Will, even if he is the head of this big expedition. He was awfully nice to let me go on part of it.
Using a Net from the Boom.
Then when I got back they let me make this little book out of what I wrote most every day on the boat. It’s meant for boys and girls. Mother helped me fix up the spelling and make the grammar right.
The writing took quite a long time, and I think being a naturalist would be more fun than being a writer. Anyway, my stories help me remember the fun we had on the Arcturus . I don’t see how it could have been much better.