Forty Years on the Pacific: The Lure of the Great Ocean, a Book of Reference for the Traveler (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Forty Years on the Pacific: The Lure of the Great Ocean, a Book of Reference for the TravelerA good many years ago - more than I like to confess - it dawned on me that I was getting too old for the deck sports that enliven a long sea-voyage; so I decided on a new sport for myself: to pass the time in setting down impressions of ocean travel, the places I visited, and the interesting side-lights on life that came to my attention. The first result was a series of letters to friends, the second, a number of newspaper interviews, and finally the present volume.My original intention was to confine myself to personal experiences, but the more I studied the conditions of the Pacific, its marvelous panorama of countries and peoples, the more fascinated I became with my subject, and it grew far beyond my initial purpose; I felt compelled to take in a wider range, to include general information and jottings that covered a period of more than forty years.I have sailed other oceans, but the Pacific is the one I know and love the best. The book I offer you is therefore primarily about my favorite ocean, the Pacific, although I wander now and again in my narrative to other waters for example and comparison.Some of the subjects held up for consideration may not prove of prime interest to all readers, but at least my guiding principle in selecting them has been the knowledge - I venture to claim - of what interests most persons. As an old campaigner, meeting all sorts and conditions of people, and mingling with them as one of the eternal human comedy, I have had unusual opportunities of finding out what the average mind responds to. Hence, I have tried to let common understanding direct my pen.This work is largely reminiscent, a fact permitting me the widest latitude.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com