New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-05-05

Fogarty and George Varian. octave, PIP. xvi,
"a The Century Company.
Captain Slocum is a modest man. At the end
of a cruise of more than forty-six thousand
miles. made in a little sloop that he built him
self. and of which he was both captain and
crew he does not dream of boasting about his
achievement. The voyage. he asks the reader
TO remember, is the thing. and not the person
atty of the man who made il. Nevertheless, if
this is of the most diverting sea books ever
written. it is because Captain Slocum, and no
other, wrote it. His descriptions of storms and
other pers are interesting In his unaffected
way he contrives to make us with him the
great wave which nearly overwhelmed his craft
off the Patagonian coast, the scenes and the
friendly natives of Samoa. and the various har-
bors he visited on his voyage round the world.
But We like him most for the quaint humor
which seems to have been with him in all
straits, and by which nearly every one Of his
pages is demurely animated.
When the possibility of nearing some coast
ing packet with genteel folk on board" occurred
to him, he overhauled his wardrobe he tells us,
land bent on white shirt" Some cheese pre-
scented TO him the island Of Pico doubles him
up when in heavy weather. Between cramps, >
he observes Il got the mainsail DOWN a pro-
fame lad Of Uruguay is described as the tallest
blasphemer. for short boy, that met on the
voyage" To young native of the same coun-
try who finds the Spray temporarily ashore,
tries to drag it inland, and on being discov-
cred asks where the ship and her captain are
from, the genial sailor replies My ship is
from the moon: it has taken her month to
come. and she is here for a cargo of boys" A
ship lifts above the horizon and AL hands cried
Sail, ho,' " II these remarks. separated from
the context. do strike the reader as eXtraOr-
dinarily funny. he may he reminded, in the
words of the comic song. that it isn't so much
what the captain says it's the way the captain
says it, He writes he might be supposed to
talk. setting down in entirely natural way
simply what happened him and what he
thought. taking pains in the latter instance to
avoid solemn moralizings or speculations. Yet
he can give US some suggestive notes on the less
obvious aspects of solitary life al like his
on mis- long cruise Witness this account of his
emotions not long after his departure from
home:
During these days a feeling of awe crept over
My memory worked with startling power.
The ominous the insignificant the great. the
small. the wonderful. the cOmmonplace-aU APP
peared before my mental vision IN magical sue
cession Pages Of my history were recalled
which had been 50 long forgotten that they
seemed 30 belong 10 a previous existence. |
heard all the voices Of the past laughing. crying.
telling what had heard them tell in many
corners OF the earth.
The loneliness Of my state wore Off when the
gale was high and | found much work to do.
When fire weather returned. then came the
sense OF solitude. which | could mol shake off.
I used my voice often. at first giving some order
about the affairs Of ship. Tor ] had been told
that from disuse should lose my speech. At
the meridian altitude Of the sun 1 called aloud,
Eight bells" after the custom ship at
Again from my cabin ! cried to an mag
mary at the helm. How does she head
there?" and again. rs she on her course" But
getting reply. I reminded the more pal
sounded
low the empty air, and dropped the prac-
tice However il was not long before the
thought came to me that when ] was lad
used to sing. My musical talent had
never bred envy in others but our on the At
lantie. to realize what it meant you should
have heard me sing. You should have seen the
porpoises leap when / pitched my voice for the
waves and the sea, and all there was in it. Old
turtles with large eyes. poked their heads up
out of the sea as I sang Johnny Boxer .
But the porpoises We're. the whole, vastly
more appreciatiye than the turtles; they jumped
a deal higher
One testimony to the sharpening effect upon
the mental faculties of solitude at is given
follows: Sleeping waking. / seemed al
ways to know the position of the sloop. and
my vessel moving across the chart. which
became a picture before me-" There are many
other passages which invite citation. There are
the amusing anecdotes scattered here and there
the recitals Of escapes from Mediterranean
pirates and Fuegian savages the narrative of
a brief interview with President Kruger-re
cording that eminent gentlemans dogmatic
declaration that the world is fat-and the ac-
count OF a talk with Stanley, the explorer which
must have somewhat abashed that parsonage
He wanted TO know all about the Spray and
asked: What if a swordfish should pierce her
hull with its sword?" Captain Slocum ventured
to suggest that the first thing would be to
secure the sword" He got 10 more hints on
navigation from Stanley. But it is the spirit of
this book which will endear it to lovers of the
sea. They viii be interested in the voyage but
they Will rejoice in the author.
THE NOVEL