So, when a man said good-by to his friends and sailed away into the
unknown, generally very many years passed before he came back--if ever
he came back at all. For the dangers of the seas were then far greater
than they now are, and if a ship was not wrecked some dark night on an
unknown island or uncharted reef, there was always the probability of
meeting a pirate vessel and of having to fight for life and liberty.
Steam has nowadays nearly done away with pirates, except on the China
coast and in a few other out-of-the-way places. But things were
different long ago, before steamers were invented; and sailors then,
when they came home, had many very surprising things to tell their
friends, many astonishing adventures to speak of, among the strange
peoples that they said they had met in far-off lands. One man, who saw
more wonderful things than any one else, was named Lemuel Gulliver,
and I will try to tell you a little about one of his voyages.

Gulliver was born in Nottinghamshire, and when he was only fourteen
years old he was sent to Emanuel College, Cambridge. There he remained
till he was seventeen, but his father had not money enough to keep him
any longer at the University. So, as was then the custom for those who
meant to become doctors, he was bound apprentice to a surgeon in
London, under whom he studied for four years. But all the time, as
often as his father sent him money, he spent some of it in learning
navigation (which means the art of finding your way across the sea,
far from land). He had always had a great longing to travel, and he
thought that a knowledge of navigation would be of use to him if he
should happen to go a voyage.

After leaving London, he went to Germany, and there studied medicine
for some years, with the view of being appointed surgeon of a ship.
And by the help of his late master in London, such a post he did get