hed upon the
rocks; and if she is out upon the open sea, she is often utterly
disabled and swallowed up by the waves.

I have known boys who thought that it would be perfectly delightful
to be shipwrecked. They felt certain that they would be cast (very
gently, no doubt) upon a desert island, and there they would find
everything that they needed to support life and make them comfortable;
and what they did not get there they would obtain from the wreck of
the ship, which would be lying on the rocks, at a convenient distance
from the shore. And once on that island, they would be their own
masters, and would not have to go to school or do anything which did
not please them.

[Illustration]

This is the good old Robinson Crusoe idea, which at one time or
another runs in the mind of nearly every boy, and many girls, too, I
expect; but a real shipwreck is never desired the second time by any
person who has experienced one.

Sometimes, even when the crew think that they have safely battled
through the storm, and have anchored in a secure place, the waves
dash upon the vessel with such force that the anchor drags, the masts
go by the board, and the great ship, with the hundreds of pale faces
that crowd her deck, is dashed on the great rocks which loom up in the
distance.

[Illustration]

Among other dangers of the ocean are those great tidal waves, which
often follow or accompany earthquakes, and which are almost as
disastrous to those living upon the sea-coast as to those in ships.
Towns have been nearly destroyed by them, hundreds of people drowned,
and great ships swept upon the land, and left there high and dry. In
tropical latitudes these tremendous upheavals of the ocean appear to
be most common, but they are known in all regions which are subject to
serious shocks of earthquakes.

[Illustration]

Waterspouts are other terrible enemies of the sailor. These, however
dangerous they may be when they approach a ship, are not very common,
and it is said that they may sometimes be entirely dispersed by firing
a cannon-ball into the midst of the column of water. This statement
is rather doubtful, for many instances have been related where the
ball went directly through the water-spout without any effect except
to scatter the spray in every direction. I have no doubt that sailors
always keep as far away from water-spouts as they can, and place very
little reliance on their artillery for their safety.

And now, have