BOOKS & AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2362, 19 January 1915, Page 7

BOOKS & AUTHORS.

(By Libee.)

BOOKS OF THE PAY.

A SAILORMAN'S YARNS. j Reading the .modest little preface to , "Reminiscences of a Wanderer, by It. , C. Bruco, A.8.. formerly M.H.R. for , Rangitikei (Whitcombo and Tombs) I : am reminded of the preface to Mon- i taigne's Essays, which commences: ; "Reader, loe here a well-meaning booke," and in which the clever old Frenchman, disclaiming any intention ; "to forestal or purchase the world s , opinion and favour," remarks: "I desire therein to be delineated in mine owno genuine, simple, and ordinario fashion, without contention, art, or t study, for it is my selfe I portraye. Mr. Bruce's "Reminiscences" are those of a man who has voyaged over many seas, and seen many strange and remarkable happenings,' both on water and land. They are set forth with a convincing air of simple sincerity which clothes them far more appropriately than would any pretentious literary stylo. I cannot recall any book, save, perhaps, Dana's never-to-bo-forgotten "Two Years Before the •Mast," and certain of Herman Melville's much-neglected sea stories, in which the every-day life and environment of a merchant sailorman has been set forth with such simple eloquence as that in which Mr. Bruce tells the story of his wanderings. Clarke Russell has his eye always on the sentimental or romantically-minded reader; Bullen over-elaborates technical detail to the verge of boredom; Conrad is primarily a psychologist. But Mr. Bruce, who knows tho sailorman's life from A to Z, who served not two years, but many years before the mast, in American, as well as British ships, is first and foremost, first and last, indeed, a sailor. He has been* 1 a politician, and a very honest and naturally eloquent member of Parliament he was; he has been, and still is, a farmer ._ But no one who rpads his book, this "livre_ de bonne foy," to use the Montaigne simile, can but recognise the fact that the author's first and last loVe is the sea. As he says in his concluding sentence, his "heart is still with those who go down to the sea in ships," and particularly with the inmates of the foc'sle, who get the most kicks and fewest half-pence. Going to «ea at fourteen, his first experiences were those of an apprentice on a 500-ton barque, bound from London to Batavia, but he afterwards sailed in many American Bhips, 'of the West Indies, round tho Horn _to tho Far East, and in other directions. The Old-time Yankee Skipper. The author gives some highly realistic descriptions of the brutality for which the old-time Yankee skippers and mates were so notorious: If the food ivere very much lotter on the American ships, and the wages higher, these advantages wore counter-balanced, on too many -American vessels, by the cruelty and brutality of the officers. Prior to the discovery of the gold in California, there wore plenty of good, respectable American sailors, but when so many of them went to the diggings, a new order of things was instituted. "Men," says Mr. Bruce, "were obtained to fill the places of the gold-seeking sailors, but thoy were the vory refuse of humanity,. and gradually ruffians were found as officers to keop the crews in : subjection. A large ship would ' carry throe, and sometimes even four, mates, men chiefly sclocted for thoir physical strength and capacity as bruisers, and the system led to incrediblecruelty and ruffianism." As showing the semi-madness which men may develop through tho exerciso of an unchecked despotism, the author assures us that pertain of the Yankee captains would deliberately "worry and insult their crews with n;ost fantastic devices, such as, for instance, making them, marshalled in a row, imitate the neighs of horses and the calls and cries of treasts and birds." The revolver and the knuckle-duster were constantly in use, and in more than one instance the studied brutality of the mates was responsible for their deliberate murder by son*, poor devil of a sailor driven insane by continual ill-usage. No sooner did a vessel leave port than the process of "breaking in" or "hazing" the unfortunate crew commenced. One wiry little Glasgow man, who sailed with the author ou in American vessel, turned upen a ruffianly Yankee mate, and producing a revolver from his long boot, said, "Look here, Mr. Mate, this h the ! way I reof topsails. If ever you inter- , fere with me again on this ship you'll • go down, There 8 four of you aft there, and if ever I start ameng ypu, there'll be d d few of you left. And what's more, I only want the chance." On another ship, out of 'Frisco for the Far Kast, the author had as shipmates two Japanese, who read, strange combination, "Sartor Resartus" and a book tho ■ author says he had never seen before, ■ and has soon since, namely "Little - l'edlington." The book was, I may here remark, written by John Poole, a Victorian dramatist and minor novelist, who was the author of the comedy "Paul Pry," in which the late J. L, Toole appeared with such success.

The Ogre. The bully of the ship was an Irish j American, M'Carthy byname, but called by the crew "Tbo Ogre," and ex-lumber-man, six foot five inches in height, and possessing the physical strength of _ a | giant. McCarthy's introduction to tho mysteries of Jiu J Hsu was more curious than pleasant. Says Mr Bruce: Although it was his' watch below, the Ogre had been prowling about the decks. A libation from the captain had roused' his evil nature. As I camo along the deck I heard some wojds, and saw one of tho Japaneso with his back to me, and - in front of' him the long boots, which tho Ogre wore in all weathers, dcseribißg a Bemi-circle. Instantly there followed a dull, heavy thud on the dock. It appeared that just as I was coming alo.ig_ M'Carthy had picked a quarrel with Jo, and had attempted to get hold of him, but the Japanese had given him such a sudden hoave that his feet flew up and round in air, and the consequent severe fall on deok quito stupefield him. The astonished giant presently got up, seeming quite dazed. Jo, approaching quietly, said: "Now, do you want any more?" The crestfallen bully replied," No, not at presont 1 don't." "Woll," said 1 the "if you every touch me again I'll kill you.' This same M'Carthy met with a sadder and tragio end. After nearly killing a young Austrian sailor, ho attacked a | Chilian member of the crew, and attempted U. 'gonge out his eyes." The Chilian escaped., and two or three nights afterwards the Ogre mysteriously disappeared. The only other occupant of the deck besides tho man at the wheel, tho Austrian above-mentioned, was tho Chilian, and when two or threo days later tho author found an iron maul lying by tho bow oi tho longboat, he saw ou it traces of blood, Whether tho Ogre had been struck down and then thrown overboard by the Chilian, tho author is unable to say, but he was novov seen after that fatal night.

"He Dearly Lovod the Lasses, Oh."

The lighter side of a wanderer's life finds ample description in Mr. Brave's entertaining chapters. The author, as » young man was, as are so many sailors, an ardent admirer of "a bonny lass,' and in more than one chapter the gravor side of life is necleolod for a narrative

of various pleasant flirtations, philanderings, and quite serious love aff&irs. In 'Frisco, in Melbourne, in Hayti, and in varipus pther places, the autnpr met witlispme very curious, and at times exciting, experiences, in which the fair aex played no inconsiderable part. Tho narrator's characteristic bonhomie made him a firm favourite with the ladies, and not oven Tom Cringle, or other of Micliael Scott's midshipmen heroes ever foil more easily in lovo than did tho gonial young A.8., the record of. whoso wanderings is set forth with so much vivacity and engaging frankness. Mr. Brace's adventures ashore, In Queensland, in Canada, and "the States," or on the early gold diggings of this country, mako equally good reading, indeed his book is one winch fairly teems with interesting, escitingi or amusing incidents.

Sailors' Chanties. Sai'ors' chanties, the songs sung or chanted by sailors when heaving up tho anchor or pulling on the ropes, are briefly alluded to by the author, who quotes f rpm Buch well-known old favourites as "Storm Along," "The Rio Grande," and "Blow the Man Down. Of these and ef others he gives the musical score. As a rule, a good "shanty man," one who leads the singing, will, ho says, often obtain from the captain some small additional wage. The part taken by the "shanty man" and the chorus respectively is indicated by the following verse of "Rio Grande" : Shanty Man: "Oh, with a Yankee ship and a down-east crew." Crew: "Away, Rio I" Shanty Man: "We'll pass the Dutoh and the Britisher, too." Crew: "For we're bound for the Rio Grande; and away Rio, away Rio.

So fare you well, my New York belle, we're bound for the Rio Crrande." Of another old favourite, "Blow the Man Down," "Liber" has pleasant memories, memories which recall tho now far-away days of thirty-five years ago, when he voyaged to Now Zealand oil board a thousandton clipper of the New Zealand Shipping Company's fleet. Mr. Bruce's version of "Blow the Man Down" runs thus:— Shanty Man: "Oh,' soon we'll sight'the chalky cliffs once more," Crew: "To my way, dye, plow the man down." Shanty Man: "That circle around dear Albion's shore." Grow: "Oh, give me some time to blow the man down." But, a3 "Liber" remembers it, the refrain ran something like this: — "Blow, blow, blow the man down. Blow the man down to Liverpool town.

Oh, give us a breeze to blow the man down." And there was another '"shanty" much in vogno, which was entitled "Whisky for My Johnny," and which contained verses which would, I fear, make a Prohibitionist fairly shudder. One verso, if I recall it correctly, ran;— "Oh, whisky, is the sou] of man, Oh whisk—ee, John—nie, Oh whisky is the soul of a man. It's whisky for my Johnnie." As Mr. Bruce says: "Some of these wild rolling melodies, when rendered by a good singing orew of about thirty voices, and most sailors have strong voices, materially assist tho progress of weighing the nnohor, or mast-heading the topsail yards, and are frequently much enjoyed by passengers, to whom they furnish a pleasant speoies of Jiovolty." Alas, I fear thero aro few British of to-day, which carry a crew of thirty, and are for the passengers, where are they? "Where are the snows of yestor evoP" Mr. Bruoe has written a most interesting, and in its way agreeably instructive book, one from which all who love to read of seafaring life and adventures by flood and field should extract a goodly store of pleasant entertainment, (Price 7s. 6d.).