PREFACE.


In these Volumes is recounted the public life of my late father from
the period to which the narrative was brought down by himself in his
unfinished "Autobiography of a Seaman." The completion of that work
was prevented by his death, which occurred almost immediately after
the publication of the Second Volume, eight years and a half ago.
I had hoped to supplement it sooner; but in this hope I have been
thwarted.

My father's papers were, at the time of his death, in the hands of
a gentleman who had assisted him in the preparation of his
"Autobiography," and to this gentleman was entrusted the completion
of the work. Illness and other occupations, however, interfered, and,
after a lapse of about two years, he died, leaving the papers, of
which no use had been made by him, to fall into the possession of
others. Only after long delay and considerable trouble and expense was
I able to recover them and realize my long-cherished purpose.

Further delay in the publication of this book has arisen from my
having been compelled, as my father's executor, to make three long and
laborious journeys to Brazil, which have engrossed much time.

At length, however, I find myself able to pay the debt which I
owe both to my father's memory and to the public, by whom the
"Autobiography of a Seaman" was read with so much interest. At the
beginning of last year I placed all the necessary documents in the
hands of my friend, Mr. H.R. Fox Bourne, asking him to handle them