Finally, I feel constrained to add that, even if my friends are wrong, and there are works with which they, as well as myself, are not acquainted, better calculated to serve the purpose for which this book is intended, I have the temerity to believe that no apology is necessary for its appearance. The overwhelming importance of our over-sea commerce to Great Britain cannot be too greatly emphasized, while the astounding ignorance of maritime matters manifested by British people generally makes one gasp in amazement. Any book, therefore, that does anything to popularize knowledge of Mercantile Marine details cannot be superfluous in this country; and should this present one succeed in bringing home to our inland dwellers with any clearness the conditions of life on board the vessels upon whose regular advent depend our supplies of daily food, I shall feel abundantly justified in issuing it to my countrymen. Dulwich, _July, 1900_. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I. THE RISE OF THE MASTER (IDEAL). PAGE Magnitude of the Merchant Service--Ignorance of its details ashore--Want of information upon the subject--Popularity of sea-fiction--And unreliability of its details--"Master" or "Captain"--Cadet ships--Their value--The way up (ideal) 1 CHAPTER II. THE RISE OF THE MASTER (REAL). Apprentice difficulties--Sketch of an officer's progress--Looking for a ship--Classification of masters--Range between Atlantic "liner" and foreign-going schooner--Enviable position of the master of a "liner"--Pilots' responsibility--Reliable officers--But the master is emperor--All responsibility centres in him 9 CHAPTER III. THE MASTER (OF A TRAMP). Tramp masters--Less pay, more work--Hardships of tramps--Economical owners--Anxious considerations--And all-round qualifications--The aristocracy of tramps--Shore berths for old skippers--Black sheep 18 CHAPTER IV. THE MASTER (SAILING SHIPS). Sailing ships--Their gradations--The beauty of seamanship in Sunda Straits--Ship handling and pluck--Devilish ships--Local knowledge _v._ "book larnin'"--The Horn--"Swansea men"--A glorious old skipper--Overdue ships--Mediocrities 26 CHAPTER V. THE MASTER (SAILING SHIP)--_continued_. The skipper's temptations--His power over young officers--Painting _v._ sailorizing--And the result--Various temperaments of skippers--The discipline of the "Yank"--And of the "Blue-nose"--Their seamanship--The "Down Easter"--The Yankee clipper--His passion for cleanliness--And brutality--Elementary methods 36 CHAPTER VI. THE MASTER'S QUALITIES.