Sailing Alone Around the World

Captain Joshua Slocum

Illustrated by
Thomas Fogarty and George Varian

New York: The Century Company, 1900

THIS HTML EDITION COURTESY OF THE ELDRITCH PRESS
TO THE ONE WHO SAID:
"THE 'Spray' WILL COME BACK."

Contents

  1. Chapter I -- A blue-nose ancestry with Yankee proclivities --Youthful fondness for the sea --Master of the ship Northern Light --Loss of the Aquidneck --Return home from Brazil in the canoe Liberdade --The gift of a "ship"--The rebuilding of the Spray --Conundrums in regard to finance and calking --The launching of the Spray
  2. Chapter II -- Failure as a fisherman --A voyage around the world projected --From Boston to Gloucester --Fitting out for the ocean voyage --Half of a dory for a ship's boat --The run from Gloucester to Nova Scotia --A shaking up in home waters --Among old friends
  3. Chapter III -- Good-by to the American coast --Off Sable Island in a fog --In the open sea --The man in the moon takes an interest in the voyage --The first fit of loneliness --The Spray encounters La Vaguisa --A bottle of wine from the Spaniard --A bout of words with the captain of the Java --The steamship Olympia spoken --Arrival at the Azores
  4. Chapter IV -- Squally weather in the Azores --High living --Delirious from cheese and plums --The pilot of the Pinta --At Gibraltar --Compliments exchanged with the British navy --A picnic on the Morocco shore
  5. Chapter V -- Sailing from Gibraltar with the assistance of her Majesty's tug --The Spray's course changed from the Suez Canal to Cape Horn --Chased by a Moorish pirate --A comparison with Columbus --The Canary Islands --The Cape Verde Islands --Sea life --Arrival at Pernambuco --A bill against the Brazilian government --Preparing for the stormy weather of the cape
  6. Chapter VI -- Departure from Rio de Janeiro --The Spray ashore on the sands of Uruguay --A narrow escape from shipwreck --The boy who found a sloop --The Spray floated but somewhat damaged --Courtesies from the British consul at Maldonado --A warm greeting at Montevideo --An excursion to Buenos Aires --Shortening the mast and bowsprit
  7. Chapter VII -- Weighing anchor at Buenos Aires --An outburst of emotion at the mouth of the Plate --Submerged by a great wave --A stormy entrance to the strait --Captain Samblich's happy gift of a bag of carpet-tacks --Off Cape Froward --Chased by Indians from Fortescue Bay --A miss-shot for "Black Pedro" --Taking in supplies of wood and water at Three Island Cove --Animal life
  8. Chapter VIII -- From Cape Pillar into the Pacific --Driven by a tempest toward Cape Horn --Captain Slocum's greatest sea adventure --Reaching the strait again by way of Cockburn Channel --Some savages find the carpet-tacks --Danger from firebrands --A series of fierce williwaws --Again sailing westward
  9. Chapter IX -- Repairing the Spray's sails --Savages and an obstreperous anchor --A spider-fight --An encounter with Black Pedro --A visit to the steamship Colombia --On the defensive against a fleet of canoes --A record of voyages through the strait --A chance cargo of tallow
  10. Chapter X -- Running to Port Angosto in a snow-storm --A defective sheet-rope places the Spray in peril --The Spray as a target for a Fuegian arrow --The island of Alan Erric --Again in the open Pacific --The run to the island of Juan Fernandez --An absentee king --At Robinson Crusoe's anchorage
  11. Chapter XI -- The islanders of Juan Fernandez entertained with Yankee doughnuts --The beauties of Robinson Crusoe's realm --The mountain monument to Alexander Selkirk --Robinson Crusoe's cave --A stroll with the children of the island --Westward ho! with a friendly gale --A month's free sailing with the Southern Cross and the sun for guides --Sighting the Marquesas --Experience in reckoning
  12. Chapter XII -- Seventy-two days without a port --Whales and birds --A peep into the Spray's galley --Flying-fish for breakfast --A welcome at Apia --A visit from Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson --At Vailima --Samoan hospitality --Arrested for fast riding --An amusing merry-go-round --Teachers and pupils of Papauta College --At the mercy of sea-nymphs
  13. Chapter XIII -- Samoan royalty --King Malietoa --Good-by to friends at Vailima --Leaving Fiji to the south --Arrival at Newcastle, Australia --The yachts of Sydney --A ducking on the Spray --Commodore Foy presents the sloop with a new suit of sails --On to Melbourne --A shark that proved to be valuable --A change of course --The "Rain of Blood" --In Tasmania
  14. Chapter XIV -- A testimonial from a lady --Cruising round Tasmania --The skipper delivers his first lecture on the voyage --Abundant provisions --An inspection of the Spray for safety at Devonport --Again at Sydney --Northward bound for Torres Strait --An amateur shipwreck --Friends on the Australian coast --Perils of a coral sea
  15. Chapter XV -- Arrival at Port Denison, Queensland --A lecture --Reminiscences of Captain Cook --Lecturing for charity at Cooktown --A happy escape from a coral reef --Home Island, Sunday Island, Bird Island --An American pearl-fisherman --Jubilee at Thursday Island --A new ensign for the Spray --Booby Island --Across the Indian Ocean --Christmas Island
  16. Chapter XVI -- A call for careful navigation --Three hours' steering in twenty-three days --Arrival at the Keeling Cocos Islands --A curious chapter of social history --A welcome from the children of the islands --Cleaning and painting the Spray on the beach --A Mohammedan blessing for a pot of jam --Keeling as a paradise --A risky adventure in a small boat --Away to Rodriguez --Taken for Anti-christ --The governor calms the fears of the people --A lecture --A convent in the hills
  17. Chapter XVII -- A clean bill of health at Mauritius --Sailing the voyage over again in the opera-house --A newly discovered plant named in honor of the Spray's skipper --A party of young ladies out for a sail --A bivouac on deck --A warm reception at Durban --A friendly cross-examination by Henry M. Stanley --Three wise Boers seek proof of the flatness of the earth --Leaving South Africa
  18. Chapter XVIII -- Rounding the "Cape of Storms" in olden time --A rough Christmas --The Spray ties up for a three months' rest at Cape Town --A railway trip to the Transvaal --President Kruger's odd definition of the Spray's voyage --His terse sayings --Distinguished guests on the Spray --Cocoanut fiber as a padlock --Courtesies from the admiral of the Queen's navy --Off for St. Helena --Land in sight
  19. Chapter XIX -- In the isle of Napoleon's exile --Two lectures --A guest in the ghost-room at Plantation House --An excursion to historic Longwood --Coffee in the husk, and a goat to shell it --The Spray's ill luck with animals --A prejudice against small dogs --A rat, the Boston spider, and the cannibal cricket --Ascension Island
  20. Chapter XX -- In the favoring current off Cape St. Roque, Brazil --All at sea regarding the Spanish-American war --An exchange of signals with the battle-ship Oregon --Off Dreyfus's prison on Devil's Island --Reappearance to the Spray of the north star --The light on Trinidad --A charming introduction to Grenada --Talks to friendly auditors
  21. Chapter XXI -- Clearing for home --In the calm belt --A sea covered with sargasso --The jibstay parts in a gale --Welcomed by a tornado off Fire Island --A change of plan --Arrival at Newport --End of a cruise of over forty-six thousand miles --The Spray again at Fairhaven
  22. Appendix -- Lines and sail-plan of the "Spray" -- Her pedigree so far as known --The lines of the Spray --Her self-steering qualities --Sail-plan and steering-gear --An unprecedented feat --A final word of cheer to would-be navigators

List of Illustrations

Illustrations are given inline in the text as in the printed original. If you wish to copy the picture files to your local disk, they are located in the "img" subdirectory of this directory. When viewed inline with a white background, the blue images render reasonably well, but when displayed on a background other than white, the colors are distorted. We suggest you view the blue images inline in the text and with a white background if you reuse them.

Notes to this Web Edition

The text is from the Dover Publications edition first published in 1956, (ISBN 0-486-20326-3, LCC 59-7670), an unabridged reprint of the 1900 first edition. Dover's copyrighted introduction by Geoffrey Mott-Smith is omitted. The text of this edition is in the public domain.

A few changes have been made in the text. Contractions such as "do n't" have been rendered as "don't". The little superscript circle designating "degree" for latitude or longitude has been spelled out as "degrees" for those whose browsers cannot render superscripts. Page numbers have been omitted from the table of contents and list of illustrations and indeed the entire text. The text and pictures were originally in black and white.
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