_The British Fleet_, by Commander C.N. Robinson, is an invaluable book to
the student of naval history, and, notwithstanding plenty of book
authorities and ten years' study of the subject, the present writers are
compelled to draw upon Commander Robinson for many details. With the aid
of this work and from allusions to be found in the writings of a couple of
centuries ago, it is possible to make some sort of picture of Dampier's
companions in the _Roebuck_.

Dampier himself was a type of naval officer who entered the service of the
country by what was then, and remained for many years afterwards, one of
the best sources of supply. He had been given a fair education, and had
been duly apprenticed and learned the profession of a sailor in a merchant
ship. Upon his return from his first voyage to the South Seas he published
an account of his travels, and dedicated it to the President of the Royal
Society, the Hon. Charles Mountague, who, appreciating the author's zeal
and his intelligent public spirit, recommended him to the patronage of
the Earl of Oxford, then Principal Lord of the Admiralty. Dampier's
dedication has nothing of the fulsome flattery and begging-letter style so
often the chief characteristic of such compositions, but is the
straightforward offer of a humble worker in science of the best of his
work to the man best able to appreciate and to make the most of it.
Dampier's dedication led to his appointment in the navy, and the
transaction does honour to both the patron and him who was patronized.

As is well known, until comparatively recent times only the officers of
the fighting branch held commissions; all others were either warrant or
petty officers. In the time of William III., a captain and one lieutenant
were allowed to each ship, and none of the other officers held
commissions. The peaceful mission of the _Roebuck_ justifies us in