The Republican journal., 1890-02-13
The Novelist of the Sea.


MIR. CLARK ri sSELL INTERVIEWED.
This uouular writer has hpep interviewed ..t
D,o,t,, ...,. N,
Do"' - +" = = ~ lne AZ ''"" ''d-
zette, who says
AT last | broke the silence; Come. ~.iu
Inc q warn: tell me how YOU, with almost thp
weirdness of = German FOLKLORE ,tory of thr
awful heart-stopping power Of ..Tbe Ancient
Mariner" :" write these wonderful sea stories OF
YOURS I've ell one thing can truthful, >ay
it Is all from my own personal cNperieure i
went to sea as a MILDLY in Que of the ull Black
wall liners at thirteen wears OF ace. wa All
through the China war. on board the old
H,tgornont, and that reminds M. onIy NH
her towed down the Channel a few week. auo.
| RECOGNIZED her at once. have hcru near,
aii over the world in INV time. and know ~
actlv what | am writinL. about when dc>,rit,e
the sea and things nautira Ana let me tcll
you it Is difficult enough 20 uau,ruyre a shin
on the water, but to mansruvre her on p.p,l.
that takes some doing My Sian il aiwAyl I'd
endeavour TO place myself And my reader.
upon the ships deck. Critics say there j, too
much sea and sky in NV novels, bnt what
would YOU? 1t is exactly as at sea. ..npn-
ber' he went on explaining to me thc n.tti.4r
in which he ALWAYS accurately described tttf
which he saw, that | would notice e.r,laL .,y
and | posses Sed the capacity for blending. For
instance take that white Gull h0atinu tbrrt ~
tremulous wing; that is the object of Interest.
| prOUn all effects rOillI that bird.
would note the mirage | saw the lIlIe. thp
simmer, the water. the uplifted vessel
harmoniZe atmo.uheric effect, with ni;ttri, n
objects and then YOUR untrayeled critic fali,
foul Of me for describing perhaps An Archie
sunrise which he never saw upon Perkhan-
rye But the difficulty in Wrifinp about tb.
sea does not consist in mere dpscription of
clouds and wave, and sunsets: ii is a far gfc:lt-
er difficulty to sail the >hip itself upou latter
Take, for instance, vessel which is Yain.
along under all plain sail wind on her ,iltlrt,I
1t comes on black to windward. with au !aII
look In the run of the seas Now come, thr
question Of shortening canvas What sail viii
a landsman, who as dear old Herman Melville
would nut it, only knows tue sea from A he4. H.
combing point of view take IN? HOW WoulI
he begius What sheet. what halliareI> vi hc
first start? | might begin by hauling DOWN
t1yipg-jib and chewing up muiu-loy,I. hut
would not that be wrong smilinglv queried
Mr. Clark Russell i think so. whilst yuur
fore and miZzen royas are still abroad. Where
at bis Youngest so1, iolIv TAI Of thirteen.
burst into scornful laugh that made the raf-
ters ring again a. he thought of the borrfl
mess into which some poor critic would pre-
cipltate himself ,,ore he placed in Such per-
picking circumstances.
For my own part | bushed a deep red.
and realized, as | had never done before that
there are moments in mans life when silence
IL indeed golden. nm how came III, III
Ia L N
had died away, how came vou. a Practical
sailor. to take To novel writing ~-.WcIl the
taste for writing first came 10 me. in n very
curious manner at sea. We were homewar,l
bound from sydney. and when abreast of fine
Horn 7 was washin,r doy,n tha d4rkS ,xIan tha
bencoop batten was discovered missing. TIE
captaiu told me TO look for il. couldu't find
if wbereunon the captaiu rrew anury. | va,
..cbeeky." and so the capfain ordered NJ IL
low. bread and water and irons A prisoner for
the rest OF the VOYAGE, Having nanght to do.
took to reading Tom Moore. and thai started
me to the writing OF poetry. Didn't 20 10 "a
AGAIN I wrote a drama-"Fra Aurelo''-il,
1856 which was proluced bv Waller Mont
gomerv. nerformed at the Havmarknt ana
Which proved A great failure. Then Ferhter
who had seen this piece OF mine. asked me to
translate the ..Corsican Brothers' for him H.,
wanted his mart done in blank verse. but when
If was rrcited to Dickens he STRONGLY ohiprtrI
Rut gave m writing tragedies: one ,v,. nIIitp
enough for me. | then wrote John I!olIids-
worth, Chief Mate": that was m, first nautical
novel. Then a wei-known pnbIi,her aske1
me TO write one for him. and The Wreck OF
the Gr1srea0r" was nv response TO his re-
0uest. However. his reader returned if with
the remark that if was merely CATALOGUE Of
shin,s furniture. II was accented by MHr.tou
Nv friends sometimes trv and t4mnt mn.
sshore No" / sny. II an web-footrd and
/ shall stick to the Sea-" NV object i to kcrp
the standard elevated. As a rule. sea stories
are ouIy written for bows. and vet EpsIand,
which Is a great maritime country. POSSESSES
no great sea novelist
Il loudly demurred: Mr.. Russell. Won are
fishing: however. let that pass are your
stories founded on factv-.Yes. very often.
for instance, / once read in the papers Of a
mutiny at sea, in which the steward had
thrown over a bottle containing an account of
it. | pondered over that, until finally wreck
ed the Grospenor. The Sea Queen was SUE
who was on board steamer, and all the crew,
except the captain and mate, fell i'll. They
worked in the engine-room She steered and
brought the vessel into the haven where they
would be. This sea-novel-writing vocation is
very dear TO me- All my sailors are men |
have met in the fo'cs'!e, kept watch with gone
aloft with; they are fast dying type iu this
age of steamers. And how vast distinction
chantman! Inc one lltne, actlNe AS cat, Iuii