Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England Salt Water, The Sea Life and Adventures of Neil D'Arcy the Midshipman, By W H G Kingston. ________________________________________________________________________ One interesting feature of this book is that it must have been one of the earliest to be written by Kingston. It does not appear that there was another edition for sixty years, by which time the author had been dead for 35 years. It is also a very good book of his genre, with lots of battle, murder, and sudden death. It deals with the adventures of a young boy who joins the Royal Navy as a midshipman in the care of his uncle. Most of the action takes place in the Mediterranean, even so far as the Ionian sea, where he visits Zante (now called Zakynthos), Cephalonia, and even Corfu. Of course practically everybody appearing in the book is slain, except the young hero, who survives all. If you want to read, or listen to, a rattling good yarn, try this one. ________________________________________________________________________ SALT WATER, THE SEA LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NEIL D'ARCY THE MIDSHIPMAN, BY W H G KINGSTON. CHAPTER ONE. NEIL D'ARCY'S LIFE AT SEA. MY ANCESTORS--LARRY HARRIGAN, AND MY EARLY EDUCATION--CHOICE OF A PROFESSION--FIRST START IN LIFE. "The sea, the sea," if not my mother, has been my nurse (and anything but a dry one) from the earliest days of my recollection. I was born within the sound of old ocean's surges; I dabbled in salt water before I could run; and I have floated on salt water, and have been well sprinkled with it too, from that time to the present. It never occurred to me, indeed, that I could be anything but a sailor. In my innocence, I pictured a life on the ocean wave as the happiest allowed to mortals; and little did I wot of all the bumpings and thumpings, the blows and the buffetings, I was destined to endure in the course of it. Yet, even had I expected them, I feel very certain they would not have changed my wishes. No, no. I was mightily mistaken with regard to the romance of the thing, I own; but had I to begin life again, with all its dangers and hardships, still I would choose the ocean for my home--the glorious navy of England for my profession.