The Cruise of the Snark | Page 3

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THE CRUISE OF THE "SNARK"
CHAPTER I
--FOREWORD

It began in the swimming pool at Glen Ellen. Between swims it was our
wont to come out and lie in the sand and let our skins breathe the warm
air and soak in the sunshine. Roscoe was a yachtsman. I had followed
the sea a bit. It was inevitable that we should talk about boats. We
talked about small boats, and the seaworthiness of small boats. We
instanced Captain Slocum and his three years' voyage around the world
in the Spray.
We asserted that we were not afraid to go around the world in a small
boat, say forty feet long. We asserted furthermore that we would like to
do it. We asserted finally that there was nothing in this world we'd like
better than a chance to do it.
"Let us do it," we said . . . in fun.
Then I asked Charmian privily if she'd really care to do it, and she said
that it was too good to be true.
The next time we breathed our skins in the sand by the swimming pool
I said to Roscoe, "Let us do it."
I was in earnest, and so was he, for he said:
"When shall we start?"
I had a house to build on the ranch, also an orchard, a vineyard, and

several hedges to plant, and a number of other things to do. We thought
we would start in four or five years. Then the lure of the adventure
began to grip us. Why not start at once? We'd never be younger, any of
us. Let the orchard, vineyard, and hedges be growing up while we were
away. When we came back, they would be ready for us, and we could
live in the barn while we built the house.
So the trip was decided upon, and the building of the Snark began. We
named her the Snark because we could not think of any other name-
-this information is given for the benefit of those who otherwise might
think there is something occult in the name.
Our friends cannot understand why we make this voyage. They shudder,
and moan, and raise their hands. No amount of explanation can make
them comprehend that we are moving along the line of least resistance;
that it is easier for us to go down to the sea in a small ship than to
remain on dry land, just as it is easier for them to remain on dry land
than to go down to the sea in the small ship. This state of mind comes
of an undue prominence of the ego. They cannot get away from
themselves. They cannot come out of themselves long enough to see
that their line of least resistance is not necessarily