Part 1 (1/2)
A Yacht Voyage Round England.
by W.H.G. Kingston.
This is a most remarkable book, copiously ill.u.s.trated with interesting engravings. A young boy and his brother are sent home early from their boarding-school, because of illness among the pupils. Their father is a retired captain in the Royal Navy, who has had a beautiful yacht built.
He suggests that the family should spend this lengthened summer holiday sailing round England. This means sailing round the southern part of Scotland, pa.s.sing through the Caledonian Ca.n.a.l.
The boys were instructed to keep journals, in which they were to note everything that took their interest. This is Kingston's vehicle for delivering to us an excellent story, full of comments on the places they visited or pa.s.sed by. Your reviewer has sailed much of the same route, and can vouch for the intrinsic truth of the descriptions, after making allowance for the hundred years between our voyages.
We have tried to bring you the ill.u.s.trations, though reduced in size, and therefore you will get the best flavour of the book from the html version.
A YACHT VOYAGE ROUND ENGLAND, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.
CHAPTER ONE.
THE START.
We had come home from school much earlier than usual, on account of illness having broken out there; but as none of the boys were dangerously ill, and those in the infirmary were very comfortable, we were not excessively unhappy. I suspect that some of us wished that fever or some other sickness would appear two or three weeks before all the holidays.
However, as we had nothing to complain of at school, this, I confess, was a very unreasonable wish.
The very day of our arrival home, when we were seated at dinner, and my brother Oliver and I were discussing the important subject of how we were to spend the next ten or twelve weeks, we heard our papa, who is a retired captain of the Royal Navy--and who was not attending to what we were talking about--say, as he looked across the table to mamma:
”Would you object to these boys of ours taking a cruise with me round England this summer?”
We p.r.i.c.ked up our ears, you may be sure, to listen eagerly to the reply.
Looking at Oliver, then at me, she said:
”I should like to know what they think of it. As they have never before taken so long a cruise, they may get tired, and wish themselves home again or back at school.”
”Oh no, no! we should like it amazingly. We are sure not to get tired, if papa will take us. We will work our pa.s.sage; will pull and haul, and learn to reef and steer, and do everything we are told,” said Oliver.
”What do you say about the matter, Harry?” asked papa.
”I say ditto to Oliver,” I replied. ”We will at all events _try_ to be of use;” for I knew from previous experience that it was only when the weather was fine, and we were really not wanted, that we were likely to be able to do anything.
”Then I give my consent,” said mamma; on which we both jumped up and kissed her, as we had been accustomed to do when we were little chaps; we both felt so delighted.
”Well, we shall be sorry to be away from you so long,” said Oliver, when we again sat down, looking quite grave for a moment or two. ”But then, you know, mamma, you will have the girls and the small boys to look after; and we shall have lots to tell you about when we come back.”
”I cannot trust to your remembering everything that happens,” said mamma. ”When I gave my leave I intended to make it provisional on your keeping a journal of all you see and do, and everything interesting you hear about. I do not expect it to be very long; so you must make it terse and graphic. Oliver must keep notes and help you, and one complete journal will be sufficient.”
”That's just the bargain I intended to make,” said papa. ”I'll look out that Harry keeps to his intentions. It is the most difficult matter to accomplish. Thousands of people intend to write journals, and break down after the first five or six pages.”
On the morning appointed for the start a little longer time than usual was spent in prayer together, a special pet.i.tion being offered that our Heavenly Father would keep us under His protection, and bring us safely home again. Soon afterwards we were rattling away to Waterloo Station, with our traps, including our still blank journals, our sketch-books, fis.h.i.+ng-rods, our guns, several works on natural history, bottles and boxes for specimens, spy-gla.s.ses, and lots of other things.
Papa laughed when he saw them. ”It would not do if we were going to join a man-of-war; but we have room to stow away a good number of things on board the Lively, although she is little more than thirty-five tons burden.”
In a quarter of an hour the train started for Southampton; and away we flew, the heat and the dust increasing our eagerness to feel the fresh sea-breezes.