Author's introduction to 1938 edition. Introduction: Life in the dying world of sail, 1870-1910 by Robert D. Foulke. My First Voyage by Captain J.G. Bisset. My Second Voyage by Captaina J.G. Bisset. Starvation by Captain J.G. Bisset. The 'Leicester Castle' Affair by Captain R. Barry O'Brien. Hell Ship by Captain R. Barry O'Brien. Mutiny in the 'Veronica' by Captain R. Barry O'Brien. A Shipwreck to Remember by Captain R. Barry O'Brien. The Anchor's Weighed - 1859 by Harry Hine, RI. Bound for Algoa Bay by Harry Hine, RI. Bound for the East in the 'Tipoo Sahib? by Harry Hine, RI. Sail in the 'Sixties' by Harry Hine, R.I. An Adventurous Voyage by Captain J.H. Mabey. An Eventful Voyage by Captain W.W. Waddell & J. Anderson. Full Aback by Captain W.W. Waddell & J. Anderson. The Nigger of the 'Chelmsford' by W. Deal. Churchwarden's gear by F. Cousins. Posted Lost by Gerard Fort Buckle. When the Sea Calls by Captain Archer Wayth. Burned Out by Edward Gordon. In the last days of commercial sail, aboard the great square-riggers that roamed the oceans, men experienced a life that is now remote and strange. As the steamship remorselessly grabbed the trade that once been the preserve of the sailing ship, sailormen struggled on in a tough and unforgiving world. Long voyages were marked by isolation, boredom, and miserable living conditions that taxed the endurance of men already hard pressed by the gruelling and dangerous nature of shipboard work. While some were attracted to a life of adventure most simply went to sea for a living, and meagre one at that. They experienced neither the excitement oflife on the crack clippers of the earlier decades nor the safety of the steamships; they were caught in the limbo of a dying profession where poor pay, discontinuous employment, prolonged isolation form family, and physical hardship were the norm. No wonder that murder, mutinity, starvation and shipwreck appear so persistently in the momoirs gathered here. Domville-Fife, in collecting together the personal stories of seamen while they were still alive, was able to present a remarkable picture, and there a few books that describe so accurately life on board the great sailing ships of the 19th century.