JACK DERRINGER

I have endeavoured in this book to paint sea life as it really is,as it can be seen on any deep-water sailing-ship of the present day,without glossing over the hardships, the hard knocks, the hard words,and the continual struggle and strife of it all. At the same timeI have tried to hint at the glamour and fascination which the seabreathes into such souls as respond to its mighty call.

As to the queer collection of flotsam which found itself in thedown-easter's foc's'le, I can assure my readers that this mixed crowdis in no way unusual; in fact, I am quite certain that the greaternumber of sailing ships "bound deep water" at the present moment aremanned by crews of an even worse mixture of nationalities, trades,and creeds than formed the complement of the Higgins, which,for a ship sailing out of San Francisco, when seamen were scarce, wassingularly lucky in finding so many bona-fide sailormen amongst hercrew.

My reader may ask if the brutality described still goes on on Americanships. All I can say is that several of the Yankee Cape Horn fleet arestill notorious for it, their officers excusing themselves on the pleathat only by the harshest measures can they preserve discipline amongstthe hard-cut citizens of all nations who form American crews.

Many of the episodes in this book, including the cowpuncher's frontieryarns, I have taken from fact, and the treatment of the knifing dago bythe bucko mate in Chapter IV. actually occurred in every detail.

As regards the moon-blindness, I have no doubt I shall have to bearwith many scoffers and unbelievers, but this I know, that few men whohave been used to sleeping in the open, whether sailors or landsmen,will be amongst them. Many a time have I hauled a sleeping man out ofthe glare of the tropical moon for fear of its direful beams, and manya time have I had the like service done to me. Few old seamen but havesome strange yarn to spin anent the strange effects of the moon uponthe human countenance exposed to its sinister rays: in most cases itis some hours' or some days' moon-blindness; sometimes it is a queercontraction of the muscles on the side of the face exposed; and I haveeven heard of cases of idiocy put down to the same cause. Certain itis that the cold beams of our world's satellite are not to be trusted.Why, do they not even poison fish or meat if left exposed to the mercyof their baleful glitter?

I must apologise for the sentimental part of this book, but apparentlyin a work of fiction a certain amount of sentiment is considerednecessary, even in a sea yarn. However, if my reader finds it not tohis taste, he can skip. We've all learnt to do that, some time or other.

BASIL LUBBOCK.