But the stories I am about to relate of
childlife aboard ship will show how difficult it is entirely
to pardon or excuse them. The blood runs chilly at the
thought of it, and you feel your mind becoming impregnated
with the spirit of murder.
No personage ever attracted so much attention and sympathy
outside the precincts of his contracted though varied sphere
of labour as the cabin-boy who served aboard the old sailing
brigs, schooners, and barques, and I must plead guilty to
having a sentimental regret that the romance was destroyed
through this attractive personality being superseded by
another, with the somewhat unattractive title of "cook and
steward." The story of how poor boys of the beginning and
middle of the century and right up to the latter part of the
'sixties started sea-life is always romantic, often
sensational, and ever pathetic. They were usually the sons
of poor parents living for the most part in obscure villages
or small towns bordering on the sea, which sea blazed into
their minds aspirations to get aboard some one of the
numerous vessels that passed their homes one way or the
other all day long.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32