Excerpt from Recollections of a Naval Life, Vol. 1 of 3 I know not whether an author who first pre sents himself at the bar of public opinion, is expected to plead the precise reasons that have induced him to place himself in such a hazardous position. Nevertheless, as I have taken my stand at that tribunal, and many sensitive, nay, sensible people, may be sorely puzzled as to the motives that have induced me to swell the list of naval vrita's; I feel it would be discourteous, as well as unwise, to mystify a simple tale, and therefore for their special satisfaction I proceed to indite my prefatory address. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.