THE MEN OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE THE MEN OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE BEING _THE POLITY OF THE MERCANTILE MARINE FOR 'LONGSHORE READERS_ BY FRANK T. BULLEN, F.R.G.S. AUTHOR OF "THE CRUISE OF THE 'CACHALOT,'" "THE LOG OF A SEA-WAIF," "IDYLLS OF THE SEA," ETC. LONDON SMITH, ELDER & CO., 15, WATERLOO PLACE 1900 (_All rights reserved_) PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. TO RUDYARD KIPLING IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF BOTH HIS WONDERFUL GENIUS AND HIS GREAT KINDNESS TO THE AUTHOR PREFACE. It has been repeatedly represented to me by disinterested friends, that among the innumerable works of both fact and fiction dealing with the sea, there are none telling in a comprehensive way what are the conditions of life in the Merchant Service; in other words, that there is no work to which a parent, yielding to his son's importunity to be allowed to go to sea, and seeking to know something of the nature of things on board of a merchant ship in detail, can turn with the assurance that he may there find what he needs. Nor can the youth anxious to go to sea in the Merchant Service find any guidance which will at once be comprehensive and reliable compacted into one handy volume. And as these same friends have done me the honour to suggest that I have the qualifications necessary for producing such a work, I have, not at all unwillingly, acceded to their suggestions, and undertaken the task. The recollection of many kindly criticisms on the preface to the "Log of a Sea-Waif," scolding me good-naturedly for what it has pleased them to term my exaggerated modesty, prevents me from sinning now in that direction. I will merely say that I have done my best to justify my friends' confidence in me, and that I earnestly hope the book will not fall too far short of their expectations. The planning of such a work seems to be comparatively easy. The first thing that suggested itself was the setting forth, in a series of chapters, the duties, required qualifications, difficulties, privileges, etc., of the various members of a ship's company.