“Shells fell upon her like hailstones, sweeping her decks, crashing into her sides.... She was on fire”

THE BOY’S BOOK OF
THE SEA

BY
ERIC WOOD

Author of “The Boy’s Book of Heroes,” “The Boy Scouts’ Roll of Honour,”
etc., etc.

WITH FOUR COLOUR PLATES AND TWELVE
ILLUSTRATIONS IN BLACK-AND-WHITE

NEW YORK
FUNK AND WAGNALLS COMPANY

Contents

PAGE
Naval Warfare—Old and New[ 1]
A comparison of ancient and modern naval warfare
is most interesting, and here, in the stories of the
Battles of Trafalgar and the Bight of Heligoland, the
comparison—nay, contrast—is particularly striking.
The Men who Discovered the World[ 29]
The men who ventured forth on the unknown seas
laid the foundations of nations and commerce, and
opened up new worlds; and the stories of their voyages
are amongst the finest in the world’s history.
Some Early Buccaneers[ 45]
The glamour of romance has been thrown around
the buccaneers, and not unjustly, for anything more
romantic—not to say exciting—it would be hard to
imagine than the story of those men who, from being
hunters of wild animals, became scourers of the seas:
heroic ruffians!
Morgan: Buccaneer and Governor[ 57]
Sir Henry Morgan, most renowned of the buccaneers,
was a born leader of men and a doer of mighty
deeds. He would have made a capital admiral or
general; as it was, he was merely a buccaneer, who
later forsook that profession for the safer one of
Governor of Jamaica.
Under the Jolly Roger[ 76]
Who has not read with many a thrill the imaginative
stories of pirates? But no novelist can conceive
anything more dramatic than the deeds of the real
pirates whose tales are told here.
Blockade Running[ 94]
For peril, adventure, and courage blockade running
would be difficult to beat, and the man who succeeds in
slipping through earns all the money that he gets.
Adventures on a Desert Island[ 102]
The life and adventures of our old friend Robinson
Crusoe have always entertained us—old and young;
but we have no need to go to fiction to find adventures
quite as thrilling as any poor old Robinson Crusoe
experienced. Here is a tale of shipwrecked and
castaway mariners.
Adrift with Madmen[ 113]
When the “Columbian” was burnt in the Atlantic
one of her boats, laden with sixteen men, was adrift for
thirteen days—days of terror, in which men went mad
from thirst.
Francis Drake’s Raid on the Spanish Main[ 122]
Drake and Hawkins went slave-trading on the
Main, and, having been played a treacherous trick
by the Spaniards, a few years later Drake went back
to take his revenge; and though ill-luck stepped in and
kept him from doing all he would, yet he exacted good
toll, and came back well pleased.
A Gallant Fisherman[ 140]
The men who garner the harvests of the seas have a
perilous, adventurous life; here is a fisherman’s yarn
of heroism.
Fire at Sea[ 145]
There are few things more terrible than fire at sea,
where salvation depends, not on outside help, but on
the resource and heroic work of the endangered sailors.
Romance of Treasure-Trove[ 158]
Scattered about the Seven Seas are islands on which
tradition has it that vast hoards of treasure have been
hidden; and men have fitted out expeditions to find
them. Sometimes they are successful—sometimes not.
Adventures Under Sea[ 166]
Father Neptune’s kingdom down below has been
invaded by presumptuous man, who not only goes upon
the sea in ships, but under as well; while when the
need arises he doesn’t even bother about a ship! These
are stories of divers and submarines.
Chasing Pirates in the China Sea[ 177]
Some tales of modern pirating.
A Voyage of Danger[ 186]
Of all the chapters in the sea’s history few are
more thrilling than those which tell of mutiny, and the
affair of the “Flowery Land” is a classic.
The Guardians of the Coast[ 196]
Coastguards and lighthousemen are hardy, noble
men, whose duties are manifold and arduous. Here
are some stories of the men who keep watch and ward
over the coasts, and in the doing of it win for themselves
glory.
Great Naval Disasters[ 206]
The Loss of the “Formidable” (1915) and the
“Victoria” (1893).
Incidents in the Slave Trade[ 219]
Although Britain spent millions of pounds to put
down the slave trade, yet she also had to spend the lives
of many gallant sailors before the work was done.
A Race to Succour[ 226]
A story of a brilliant achievement by American
revenue men and lifeboatmen.
A Tragedy of the South Pole[ 233]
The quest of the South Pole lured men for years to the
ice-bound regions of the earth, and at last success crowned
the efforts which cost life and treasure and gave undying
honour to the conquerors.
Stories of the Lifeboat[ 247]
The lifeboatmen are the saviours of men who sail
the seas, and their story is one of sublime indifference
to death and of glorious heroism.
Tales of the Smugglers[ 260]
Stories of smugglers have always had a fascination,
and these incidents of smuggling days are full
of thrill and virility.
Modern Corsairs[ 274]
When the Great War of 1914 turned the armed
hosts of Europe loose, the British Navy found before
it a gigantic task: the keeping open of the trade routes.
German cruisers and armed liners swept hither and
thither, holding up merchant vessels, as the privateers of
olden days did; and the “Emden” and the “Königsberg,”
etc. became the corsairs of the twentieth century.
The Wreckers[ 282]
False lights that lured the mariner astray and on to
the rocks; bold, unscrupulous men who lay in wait
for the ships to run to their doom; the looting of vessels
rendered helpless—all these things and many others go
to make up thrilling chapters in the story of the sea.
The Tragedy of a Wonder Ship[ 295]
The “Titanic” was the finest ship in the world.
She was pronounced unsinkable—but, out of the night
there loomed an iceberg which ripped her plates asunder
like so much paper, and the safest ship in the world
dived beneath the surface with hundreds of unfortunate
passengers and crew.
Mysteries of the Sea[ 309]
Queer stories of ships that disappeared.