Chapter I: Preface

The present volume is rather a condensation than an abridgment of the later volumes of Captain Hall's "Fragments of Voyages and Travels," inasmuch as it comprises all the chapters of the second and third series, only slightly abbreviated, in which the author describes the various duties of the naval lieutenant and commander, the personal narrative being the framework, and his own experience in both capacities providing the details.

The editor has no hesitation in stating, after the careful perusal and analysis he has necessarily made of this work, and that, with a tolerably extensive knowledge of books, he knows of none which may, with more propriety, be placed in the hands of young men, whatever may be their destination in life; but more especially are they adapted for the use of young officers and all aspirants to a seaman's life. The personal narrative, slight though it is, renders it very amusing, and every point the author makes inculcates a rigorous attention to "duty" duly tempered with discretion and humanity in commanding officers.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Taking a line in the service--Duty of officers--The dashing
boys--Dashing boys ashore--Philosophers afloat--Naval
statesmen--Scientific officers--Hard-working officers--Poetical
aspirants--Taking a line

CHAPTER II.

A sailor on shore--Irish hospitality--A sailor ashore--Irish
factions--Irish scenery--Land-locked bay--Reflections and
plans--An awkward dilemma--A retreat--A country party--A medical
experiment--My reception

CHAPTER III.

Tricks upon travellers--Irish refinement--A wise resolve--After
dinner--The second bottle--One bottle more--Second thoughts
best--The game of humbug--The climax--You're off, are you?--A
practical bull--Irish hospitality

CHAPTER IV.

The Admiralty List--Chances of promotion--The Admiral's list--My
own disappointment--A good start--Homeward bound--A spell of bad
weather

CHAPTER V.

The tropical regions at sea--Sir Nathaniel Dance--The old Indian
ships--Social life at sea--Details of the voyage--The Canary
Islands--The Trade-winds--Changes of climate--The variable
winds--North-east Trades--Our limited knowledge--The great
monsoons

CHAPTER VI.

The Trade-winds--The monsoons--Theory of the
Trade-winds--Explanations--Tropical winds--Motion of cold
air--Direction of clouds--Equatorial Trades--Calms and
variables--South-east Trades--Application of theories--Atlantic
winds--Monsoons of India--Trade-winds of the pacific--Monsoons
of Indian seas--Velocity of equatorial air--Obstructions of the
land--Horsburg's remarks--Dampier's essay

CHAPTER VII.

Progress of the voyage--Cape of Good Hope--Ships' decks in the
tropics--Sweeping the decks--Marine shower-bath--Flying-fish--A
calm--Ships in a calm--A tropical shower--Washing-day--Comforts
of fresh water

CHAPTER VIII.

Aquatic sports--Weather wisdom--An equatorial
squall--Flying-fish--A chase--The
dolphin--Capture--Porpoises--Harpooning--The bonito--Dolphin
steaks--Porpoise steaks--The albatross--Shark-fishing--A
shark-hook--Habits of sharks--Seizing its prey--Flying at the
bait--The shark captured--Killing the shark--The buffalo skin--A
narrow escape

CHAPTER IX.

A man overboard--Crossing the line--Duty of officers--Rival
Neptunes--A boy overboard--Affecting incident--A true-hearted
sailor--Bathing at sea--A well-timed action--Swimming--A
necessary acquisition--A man overboard--What should be done, and
how to do it--Effects of precipitancy--Life-buoy--Regulations
for emergencies--Managing the ship with a man
overboard--Stationing the crew--Directing the boats

CHAPTER X.

Sunday on board a man-of-war--Mustering by divisions--The fourth
commandment--Short services recommended--Order for
rigging--Scrubbing and sweeping--Sunday muster--Jack's
dandyism--Jack brought up with a round turn--Mustering at
divisions--Inspection--The marines--Round the decks--The
sick-bay--Lower deck--Below--Cockpit--The gun-room--Quarter deck

CHAPTER XI.

The ship church--Rigging the church--Short services
recommended--Short sermons recommended--Religious duties
necessary to discipline--Church service interrupted--The day of
rest

CHAPTER XII.

Naval ratings and sea pay--Mustering clothes--Between decks on
Sunday--Piping to supper--Mustering by lists--A seaman disrated
and rerated--Ratings of seamen--Tendency to do right--Examining
stores--Captain's duties--Clothes' muster--Responsibility--A
sailor's kit--A sailor's habits--Mizen-top
dandies--Hammocks--Piping the bags down--Pressing emigrants--A
Scotchman's kit--Improved clothes' muster

CHAPTER XIII.

Sailors' pets--Purchasing a monkey--Jacko's attractions--Gets
monkey's allowance--Jacko and the marines--Jacko's
revenge--Jacko turns on his friend--Spills the grog--Is
pursued, but is pardoned--Condemned to die--Commuted to
teeth-drawing--Surgeon's assistant appealed to--He can't
bite--The travelled monkey--Trick on the marines--Its
consequences--A potent dose--Its operations--Jack's
superstitions--The grunter pet--Jean's advocate--Her good
qualities--Jean's obesity, and its attractions--Her death and
burial--Well ballasted

CHAPTER XIV.

Doubling the Cape--Southern constellations--Intelligent chief
officer--Sailors and their friends--Parting company--The
cape--Simon's town--A fresh breeze--Rising to a gale--All hands
shorten sail--Value of experience to an officer--Taking in
reefs--Taking in mainsail--Heaving the log--Before the
gale--Effects of a gale--Value of a chronometer proved by the
want of one--Awful catastrophe

CHAPTER XV.

Suggestions towards diminishing the number and severity of Naval
punishments--Corporal punishment--The author's own case--An old
shipmate--Admiralty regulations--Appeal to officers to avoid
precipitation--Dangers of precipitation--Instance of its
dangers--A considerate captain--A case for pardon--An obdurate
officer--Pardon granted--Retrieving of character

CHAPTER XVI.

Bombay--First glimpse of India--Bombay and its scenery

CHAPTER XVII.

Sir Samuel Hood--Naval promotion--Hopes and their
disappointment--An ant-hunt--The Admiral's triumph over the
engineers

CHAPTER XVIII.

Excursion to Candelay lake in Ceylon--Starting of the
expedition--Pearl-divers--A strange tunnel--Hindoo bathing--An
amusing exhibition--A tropical forest--A night scene--An
alarm--A supper--A midnight burial--Cingalese game--Lake
Candelay and its embankment

CHAPTER XIX.

Griffins in India--Sinbad's valley of diamonds--A
mosquito-hunt--Deep anchorage--Local names--Valley of
diamonds--Ceylon gems

CHAPTER XX.

Ceylonese canoes--Peruvian balsas--The floating windlass of the
Coromandel fishermen--American pilot-boats--Balsas of
Peru--Man-of-war boats--Ceylonese canoes--Canoe mast and
sails--Local contrivances--Construction of the balsa--Management
of the sail--Indian method of weighing anchor--A floating
windlass--Failure of the attempt--The Admiral's remarks--An
interesting feat of mechanical ingenuity

CHAPTER XXI.

The surf at Madras--Sound of the waves--Masullah
boats--Construction of the boats--Crossing the surf--Steering
the boat--How a capsize in the surf occurs--Catamarans of the
surf--Perseverance of the messenger

CHAPTER XXII.

Visit to the Sultan of Pontiana, in Borneo--Sir Samuel
Hood--Borneo--A floating grove--Pontiana--Chinese in Borneo--The
sultan and his audience room--Interior of the palace--The
autograph--Anecdote of Sir S. Hood--Getting out of the trap--Sir
S. Hood at the Nile--The Zealous and Goliath--Captain Walcott's
disinterestedness--Sir S. Hood's kindness

CHAPTER XXIII.

Commissioning a ship--Receiving-hulk--Marines and
gunners--Choice of sailors--The ship's company--Choice of
officers--Stowing the ballast--Importance of
obedience--Complement of men in ships of war--Shipping the
crews--A Christmas feast afloat--A Christmas feast in Canton
River--Self-devotion

CHAPTER XXIV.

Fitting out--Progress of rigging--The figure-head--Progressive
rigging--The boats--Fitting out--Stowage of ships'
stores--System requisite--Painting the ship--Policy of a good
chief--Anecdote of Lord Nelson--Scrubbing the hulk--Leaving the
harbour--Sailing