MR. PUNCH'S NAVAL NOVEL.

[_Mr. Punch_ has observed with much gratification the success of
various _brochures_ professing to give, under the disguise of
retrospect, a prophetic but accurate account of the naval battle
of the immediate future. _Mr. Punch_ has read them carefully over
and over again. For some time he has been living, so to speak, in
the midst of magnificent iron-clad fleets. In vain have torpedoes
been launched on their occasionally death-dealing mission against
him, in vain have immense shells exploded in his immediate
neighbourhood. Nothing, not even the ramming of one whole squadron
by another, has succeeded in daunting him. He has remained
immovable in the midst of an appalling explosion which reduced a
ship's company to a heap of toe-nails. And now, his mind fired by
the crash of conflict and the intoxication of almost universal
slaughter, he proposes to show the world how a naval novel that
means to be accurate as well as vivid, to be bought by the public
in thousands as well as to teach useful lessons to politicians and
sailors, ought really to be written. _Mr. Punch_ may as well state
that he has _not_ submitted this story to any naval experts. His
facts speak for themselves, and require no merely professional
approval to enhance their value.]

WHO'D BE A SAILOR?

(_A Story of Blood and Battle._)

CHAPTER I.

[Illustration: The Explosion.]