Transcriber’s Note Italic text displayed as: _italic_ FRAGMENTS OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, INCLUDING ANECDOTES OF A NAVAL LIFE: CHIEFLY FOR THE USE OF YOUNG PERSONS. BY CAPTAIN BASIL HALL, R.N. F.R.S. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. ROBERT CADELL, EDINBURGH: WHITTAKER, TREACHER, & CO. LONDON. M.DCCC.XXXI. LONDON: J. MOYES, TOOK’S COURT, CHANCERY LANE. PREFACE. This little work has been drawn up chiefly for the use of Young Persons; it is therefore hoped, that should it fall under the eye of older readers, the purpose for which it is written will be kept in mind. On the other hand, should any young person meet with passages he does not perfectly understand, he is recommended not to puzzle over them, but rather to conclude that those parts of the book may be intended for people a little further advanced. It does not seem a settled point, whether, in the estimation of Juvenile Readers, most interest attaches to a true story, or to one entirely fictitious; but it may be right to mention, that all the incidents here related are real. The advice which the author has taken the liberty of offering to his Young Friends, as well as the speculations he has occasionally introduced, contain no opinions but such as he considers might have proved useful to himself, at some stage of his own professional life. _Putney Heath, 28th March, 1831._ CONTENTS OF VOL. I. Page EARLY PREDILECTIONS 1 FIRST GOING AFLOAT 33 SPECIMENS OF COCK-PIT DISCIPLINE 61 BERMUDA IN THE PEACE 100 MIDSHIPMEN’S PRANKS 137 DIVERSITIES IN DISCIPLINE 161 GEOLOGY—NAUTICAL SQUABBLES 179 MAST-HEADING A YOUNG GENTLEMAN 196 KEEPING WATCH 217 DANGERS OF A NOVA SCOTIA FOG 261 BLOCKADING A NEUTRAL PORT 283 THE SCHOOLMASTER AFLOAT 302 FRAGMENTS OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. CHAPTER I. EARLY PREDILECTIONS.