Man on the Ocean | Page 2

some don't: with those who do, it is well;
with those who don't, and yet go to sea, it is remarkably ill. Think
philosophically about "going to sea," my lads. Try honestly to resist
your own inclination as long as possible, and only go if you find that
you can't help it! In such a case you will probably find that you are cut
out for it--not otherwise. We love the sea with a true and deep affection,
and often have we tossed upon her foam-topped waves; but we don't
wish to be a sailor--by no manner of means!
And now, boys, come along, and we will conduct you as pleasantly and
profitably as we can from a ship's cradle, through all her stormy

existence, to her grave.
CHAPTER TWO.
THE EARLIEST DAYS OF WATER-TRAVELLING.
Once upon a time there were no ships. Men did not know the meaning
of the word; they did not want them; and, for many, many centuries the
sea-gulls had the ocean all to themselves. But boats are of very ancient
date. Doubtless the first boats must have been constructed by the first
men who dwelt on the earth. They consisted, probably--for we are now
in the land of conjecture--of stumps of fallen trees, or bundles of rushes,
seated astride of which the immediate descendants of our first parents
ferried themselves over small lakes and across rivers.
Wet feet are not agreeable under any circumstances. We can conceive
that prolonged voyages performed in this fashion--say several hundred
yards or a mile--rendered those primitive mariners so uncomfortable,
that they resolved to improve their condition; and, after much earnest
thought, hit upon the plan of fastening several logs together by means
of twigs, and thus they formed rafts.
As time progressed, and men began to display wisdom in making tools
of stone and in the moulding of metal, we can imagine that they soon
bethought themselves of flattening the surface of their rafts; and then,
finding them unwieldy and difficult to manage, no doubt, they hit upon
the idea of hollowing out the logs. Adzes were probably not invented at
that time, so they betook themselves to the element of fire--which is at
the present day used by savage nations for the same purpose--and
burned out the insides of their logs. Thus canoes sprang into being.
But such canoes were clumsy and heavy, besides being liable to split;
men therefore bethought themselves of constructing a light framework
of wood, which they covered with bark or skin. Then artificers in iron
invented saws; logs were ripped up; planks were formed; pitch oozed
ready to hand from the trees; with grass, perchance, they caulked the
seams;--and soon the first boat floated on the water--clumsy and
tub-like, no doubt, but serviceable withal--and youths of a hundred

years old, and full-grown men of two or three hundred, capered and
shouted on the shore with delight at the great invention; while
venerable patriarchs, of seven or eight hundred summers, gazed in
wonder, with almost prophetic solemnity, and exclaimed that they had
never before seen the like of that in all the course of their long, long
lives!
Those times are old now--so old that men can scarcely get their minds
to realise how old they are; nevertheless, the craft that were used then
are used even now, and that not only among the savages of distant
lands, but by men living at our very doors.
The coracle, a basket-boat of the most primitive description, is still
occasionally met with in South Wales. It is neither more nor less than a
large wicker basket covered with a hide, and is tub-shaped, and clumsy
to a degree. When the Romans invaded Britain, this species of boat was
in common use. Like the canoe of the North American Indian, it is
easily upset, and we should think must be rather unmanageable; but as
we are not likely ever again to be reduced to it in this country, we can
afford to regard its faults with indifference.
From little boats to big boats there is but a step; and no doubt rivers
were soon navigated, and new countries explored, while those who
lived near the sea-coast dared even to launch their boats upon the ocean;
but they "hugged the shore," undoubtedly, and seldom ventured to
proceed at night unless the stars shone brightly in the sky.
Years rolled on, and dwellers on the sea-coast became more and more
venturous in their voyages along the shore. It behoved them to have
larger boats, or barges, with numerous rowers, who would naturally
carry weapons with them to guard themselves from foes. War-galleys
sprang into being. Strong winds sometimes carried these off-shore, and
out of sight of land. Ah, reader! who can conceive the feelings of the
first mariners who saw