Since its first publication in serial form, nine years ago, he has been stricken with one of the heaviest of physical infirmities. Doomed to life-long blindness, the recollection of years spent at sea in the prime of manhood, come crowding upon him more thickly than ever, and he finds his chief solace in having still retained the ability to write them down for the benefit and amusement of others. His seafaring friends, as they overhaul the log of their own experience, will at once recognize the truthfulness of the pictures he has drawn here.
W. H. M.
Nantucket, Mass., August, 1877.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PAGE. | |
| From Peck Slip to Nantucket Bar | [1] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| In and Out over the Bar | [12] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| From the Bar Round Great Point | [24] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| Fairly at Sea.—The First Lookout.—Introduction | [38] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| The Western Islands.—"Yarns" and Anecdotes | [50] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| The First Whale | [62] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| "Cutting In" | [73] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| Boiling.—Cutting the Line.—Dutch Courage.—"Man Overboard" | [85] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| "Gamming" with a "Homeward-Bounder" | [98] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| Whaling Near the Falklands.—Death of Mr. Johnson | [112] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| Promotion.—"Cooper's Novels."—The Mate Moralizes.—Cape Horn | [125] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| Fishing at Juan Fernandez.—Fight with an Ugly Whale | [139] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| Talcahuana | [153] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| The Bill-Fish.—The Marquesas.—A Prisoner among the Savages | [167] |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| Escape from the Savages.—Recovery of the Boat.—Magical Effects of Lynch Law | [181] |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| The Cooper "Romances".—Incidents.—Byron's Island | [197] |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| Kingsmill's Group.—Singular Whaling Incident.—Hard and Fast.—A Perilous Position | [211] |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| Off the Rocks Again.—A Bad Leap.—Anecdotes.—The Run to the Caroline islands | [225] |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| Strong's Island | [238] |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| On Japan.—Ormsbee's Peak.—Whaling Incidents.—A Yankee Trick | [253] |
| CHAPTER XXI. | |
| Radack Chain.—Watering at Ocean Island.—Incidents on the Run to Sydney, N. S. W. | [267] |
| CHAPTER XXII. | |
| Sydney.—Up Anchor for Home.—"Galway Mike." | [280] |
| CHAPTER XXIII. | |
| Homeward.—The Episode of Galway Mike.—Cape Horn.—The Last Whale | [294] |
| CHAPTER XXIV. | |
| Homeward. The Whale Recognized as an Old Acquaintance.—Incidents of the Run Home.—Nantucket Again | [307] |