A Yacht Voyage Round England

________________________________________________________________________ This is a most remarkable book, copiously illustrated with interesting engravings. A young boy and his brother are sent home early from their boarding-school, because of illness among the pupils. Their father is a retired captain in the Royal Navy, who has had a beautiful yacht built. He suggests that the family should spend this lengthened summer holiday sailing round England. This means sailing round the southern part of Scotland, passing through the Caledonian Canal.

The boys were instructed to keep journals, in which they were to note everything that took their interest. This is Kingston's vehicle for delivering to us an excellent story, full of comments on the places they visited or passed by. Your reviewer has sailed much of the same route, and can vouch for the intrinsic truth of the descriptions, after making allowance for the hundred years between our voyages.

We have tried to bring you the illustrations, though reduced in size, and therefore you will get the best flavour of the book from the html version.

________________________________________________________________________ A YACHT VOYAGE ROUND ENGLAND, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.

CHAPTER ONE.

THE START.

We had come home from school much earlier than usual, on account of illness having broken out there; but as none of the boys were dangerously ill, and those in the infirmary were very comfortable, we were not excessively unhappy. I suspect that some of us wished that fever or some other sickness would appear two or three weeks before all the holidays.

However, as we had nothing to complain of at school, this, I confess, was a very unreasonable wish.

The very day of our arrival home, when we were seated at dinner, and my brother Oliver and I were discussing the important subject of how we were to spend the next ten or twelve weeks, we heard our papa, who is a retired captain of the Royal Navy--and who was not attending to what we were talking about--say, as he looked across the table to mamma:

"Would you object to these boys of ours taking a cruise with me round England this summer?"

We pricked up our ears, you may be sure, to listen eagerly to the reply. Looking at Oliver, then at me, she said:

"I should like to know what they think of it. As they have never before taken so long a cruise, they may get tired, and wish themselves home again or back at school."

"Oh no, no! we should like it amazingly. We are sure not to get tired, if papa will take us. We will work our passage; will pull and haul, and learn to reef and steer, and do everything we are told," said Oliver.

"What do you say about the matter, Harry?" asked papa.

"I say ditto to Oliver," I replied. "We will at all events try to be of use;" for I knew from previous experience that it was only when the weather was fine, and we were really not wanted, that we were likely to be able to do anything.

"Then I give my consent," said mamma; on which we both jumped up and kissed her, as we had been accustomed to do when we were little chaps; we both felt so delighted.

"Well, we shall be sorry to be away from you so long," said Oliver, when we again sat down, looking quite grave for a moment or two. "But then, you know, mamma, you will have the girls and the small boys to look after; and we shall have lots to tell you about when we come back."