I could bring her no nearer home.
If the _Spray_ discovered no continents on her voyage, it may be that there were no more continents to be discovered; she did not seek new worlds, or sail to powwow about the dangers of the seas.

The sea has been much maligned.

To find one's way to lands already discovered is a good thing, and the _Spray_ made the discovery that even the worst sea is not so terrible to a well-appointed ship.

No king, no country, no treasury at all, was taxed for the voyage of the _Spray_, and she accomplished all that she undertook to do.
[Illustration: The Spray in the storm of New York.] To succeed, however, in anything at all, one should go understandingly about his work and be prepared for every emergency.

I see, as I look back over my own small achievement, a kit of not too elaborate carpenters' tools, a tin clock, and some carpet-tacks, not a great many, to facilitate the enterprise as already mentioned in the story.
But above all to be taken into account were some years of schooling, where I studied with diligence Neptune's laws, and these laws I tried to obey when I sailed overseas; it was worth the while.
And now, without having wearied my friends, I hope, with detailed scientific accounts, theories, or deductions, I will only say that I have endeavored to tell just the story of the adventure itself.