By Way of Cape Horn

Alan Villiers sailed before the mast on the grace Harwar, and in this book he describes the square-rigger's nightmare voyage from Australia to Queenstown. He tells of the long-drawn-out run to the Horn, and the mountainous seas which so beat upon the ship that one night the crew stood by on the poop,pumps jammed and decks awash,waiting for the end. He tells of how his friend, Ronnie Walker, was killed at his work; how a Finnish boy was swept overboard and the second mate, succumbing to the strain of that passage, lost his reason; how the ship was delayed in tropic calm, food supplies exhausted and distress signals of no avail.This is the epic story of courage, endurance and a philosophic acceptance of hardship and danger.