The Project Gutenberg EBook of Turned Adrift, by Harry Collingwood

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Title: Turned Adrift

Author: Harry Collingwood

Illustrator: Edward S. Hodgson

Release Date: March 17, 2008 [EBook #24859]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURNED ADRIFT ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Turned Adrift, by Harry Collingwood.

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This is a very fast-moving book by a master of nautical writing. You
will enjoy it, and especially so if you listen to it as an audiobook.

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TURNED ADRIFT, BY HARRY COLLINGWOOD.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE SEIZURE OF THE "ZENOBIA".

The _Zenobia_--A1 at Lloyd's--was a beautiful little clipper barque of
376 tons register, and so exquisitely fine were her lines that her
cargo-carrying capacity amounted to but a few tons more than her
register tonnage; in fact, the naval architect who designed her had been
instructed to ignore altogether the question of cargo capacity, and to
give his whole attention to the matter of speed, and most faithfully had
he carried out his instructions.

For the _Zenobia_ had been designed and built to the order of the firm
which owned the famous "Queen" line of sailing clippers trading between
London and Natal; and the aim of the Company was to drive off all
competitors and secure the monopoly of the passenger trade between
London and the Garden Colony. And there was only one way in which that
aim could be accomplished, namely, by carrying passengers to and fro in
less time and greater comfort than any of the competing lines. The
question of cargo did not matter so very much, for at that time--that is
to say, about the year 1860--the steam service to South Africa was very
different from what it is to-day. The steamers were small, slow, and
infrequent; Natal was just then attracting a big influx of well-to-do
people from England; passenger rates were high--as also, for that
matter, was the freight on such special merchandise as was at that time
being carried out to the colony--and those who took c