London and Gravesend eighteen years ago--in '15 I think it was--folks did
say that it would not be long before sailing craft would be driven off the
sea. I did not believe that then, and I don't believe it now; but I do say
that I hope before long there will be a lot of small steamers on the
Thames, to tow vessels down till they are off the North Foreland. It would
be a blessing and a comfort to us master mariners. Once there we have the
choice of going outside the Goodwins, or taking a short cut inside if the
wind is aft. Why, sir, it would add years to our lives and shorten voyages
by weeks. There we are, now, sometimes lying off the Nore, five hundred
sail, waiting for the wind to shift out of the east, and when we do get
under weigh we have always to keep the lead going. One never knows when
one may bump upon the sands. Some masters will grope their way along in
the dark, but for my part I always anchor. There are few enough buoys and
beacons in daytime, but I consider that it is tempting Providence to try
and go down in a dark night. The owners are sensible men and they know
that it is not worth while running risks just to save a day or two when
you have got a four months' voyage before you. Once past Dover I am ready
to hold on with anyone, but between the Nore and the North Foreland I pick
my way as carefully as a woman going across a muddy street."

"You are quite right, Captain; I thoroughly agree with you. More ships get
ashore going down to the mouth of the Thames than in any other part of the
world; and, as you say, if all sailing ships might be taken down by a
steamer, it would be the making of the port of London."

"Your brother is a smart young chap, Mr. Prendergast. I was watching him
yesterday, and he is working away now as if he liked work. He has the
makings of a first-rate sailor. I hold that a man will never become a
first-class seaman unless he likes work for its own sake. There are three
sorts of hands. There is the fellow who shirks his work whenever he has a