The Voyage of the Arrow: To the China Seas. Its Adventures and Perils, Including Its Capture by Sea Vultures from the Countess of Warwick, as Set Down by William Gore, Chief Mate
The Voyage of the Arrow: To the China Seas. Its Adventures and Perils, Including Its Capture by Sea Vultures from the Countess of Warwick, as Set Down by William Gore, Chief Mate
In setting down this tale, I will say at the beginning that I am only a sailorman, and rough. Therefore, if I offend, I crave pardon, for my knowledge is only that of the sea, and my manners are ocean-bred. If any one is too delicately constituted to listen to a man like myself, and prefers a tale of gentleness and delicate desire, he had best pass over this narrative of part of my life, which has already received so much publicity. I know many people hold off from me. I know some sweet-scented sea lawyers who fancy they ...
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In setting down this tale, I will say at the beginning that I am only a sailorman, and rough. Therefore, if I offend, I crave pardon, for my knowledge is only that of the sea, and my manners are ocean-bred. If any one is too delicately constituted to listen to a man like myself, and prefers a tale of gentleness and delicate desire, he had best pass over this narrative of part of my life, which has already received so much publicity. I know many people hold off from me. I know some sweet-scented sea lawyers who fancy they have a taste for description have called me many hard names, and that many honest folk hold away from me because of it. This and much more. But I have gone my way in silence and lived according to the little voice within me, as a strong man should. And it is not weakness now that prompts me to speak. I feel it my duty, and will tell what I know and remember about the part of my life which the public have chosen to discuss so freely. I do not know who will believe a sailor's tale, for sailors have been known to enlarge on their yarns, but my father was a sailor before me and was an honest man. So were many of the Gores, and I myself have been master of a deep-water clipper-ship. In spite of this I hardly feel that I have reached an exalted pinnacle of human fame, for most people do not regard me as a success, nor am I held up as a shining example of what man might accomplish in his life's work, although I was captain of the Southern Cross-until I ran her ashore and lost her on the Irish coast. This was all owing to misdirected effort-that is, her loss was; for, after slaving twelve years fore and aft to get command of a ship and at last getting one, I tried to break the record from Hongkong to Liverpool. I did this by five days, and instead of holding offshore until the weather moderated, I overran my distance during a foggy, driving gale and left the whitening ribs of the Southern Cross to mark the success of my endeavour. Had I made harbour, my name would have gone down to posterity as that of the best sailor afloat, and I would have had the pick of the whole deep-water fleet, instead of being forced, as I was, to sign on as mate of the Arrow. It made my eyes misty and something rose in my throat as I did this. I, a man of twenty-nine, signing the papers for a mate's berth just as I had done years ago when barely twenty. I thought of the wild work I had done on the yard-arm in many a fierce and freezing gale. I fancied I saw again the ragged rocks of the Ramires through the gloom of the Antarctic night. The powerful typhoon of the South Pacific and the hurricane of the Gulf flitted for an instant before my misty vision. Then-Yes, then I was aware of Mr. Ropesend gazing down quietly at me over the edge of his gold-rimmed spectacles, and I signed "William Gore" without a tremor.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Third printing. Frontispiece. Illustrated green cloth stamped in color. Scattered foxing on frontispiece and page edges, faint stains on a few pages, light offsetting on page 300-301 from piece of dust jacket laid in, about very good with edges bumped and small stain on rear board lacking the dust jacket. Thornton Jenkins Hains, 1866-1953, was an American novelist who found popularity with his nautical tales. Hains is mostly remembered for his part in the "Regatta Murder", the killing of William Annis by Hains' brother, Peter C. Hains. Peter's wife was having an affair with Annis and it was Thornton that told his brother this information. This resulted in Peter murdering Annis at the Ladies' Regatta while his brother stood watch. Although, not convicted of any crime, the event soiled his reputation and he adopted the pen name Mayn Clew Garnett from then on.
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Seller's Description:
Good. First edition. Illustrated green cloth stamped in color. Frontispiece loose and laid in, spine a bit cocked, edges modestly worn, about very good. Inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front fly to an old "shipmate". Thornton Jenkins Hains, 1866-1953, was an American novelist who found popularity with his nautical tales. Hains is mostly remembered for his part in the "Regatta Murder", the killing of William Annis by Hains' brother, Peter C. Hains. Peter's wife was having an affair with Annis and it was Thornton that told his brother this information. This resulted in Peter murdering Annis at the Ladies' Regatta while his brother stood watch. Although, not convicted of any crime, the event soiled his reputation and he adopted the pen name Mayn Clew Garnett from then on. A scarce Signed copy of an interesting title.
