If I could not spend my life upon salt water, existence would have no pleasure for me.

My father threatened, my mother wept, Uncle Clutterfield prophesied all sorts of disasters, but I remained firm.
"Very well," said my father, when he realized that further argument was hopeless, "since you must go to sea, go to sea you certainly shall.

But you mustn't blame me if you find that the life is not exactly what you anticipate, and that you would prefer to find yourself on dry land once more." I willingly gave this promise, and a month later left Liverpool as an apprentice on the clipper ship _Maid of Normandy_.

Appropriately enough the captain's name was Fairweather, and he certainly was a character in his way.

In fact the whole ship's company were originals.