PREFACE. THE following pages will be found to contain accounts of a considerable number of the gallant actions performed by naval men since Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria came to the throne; but it in no way aims at being a complete naval history of her reign. My chief object, when designing the work, was to show that the present Navy of Great Britain has, in no respects, degenerated from that of olden times, great and glorious as it was-that when opportunities have occurred, the Blue Jackets of to-day, both officers and men, have been found ready as ever to perform their duty-to dare and to do as was dared and done of yore; that, in truth, they are worthy scions of the ancient race- -TRUE CHIPS OF THE OLD BLOCK. The following accounts will, I think, also tend to prove that the British Navy is not kept up for mere pomp and parade, or for supporting in idleness any class of the community; but that whenever hard blows have been exchanged, it has given and taken a fair share of them-that it has been ever actively employed in protecting British Colonies and British Commerce in all parts of the world-that through its means disputes have been settled, which could in no other way have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion, and might have plunged the nation in war— that it has ever been found engaged on the side of justice and humanity—that not only has it, on numberless occasions, preserved the lives and property of British subjects, but also the existence of thousands of human beings of all nations and creeds, and of every degree of civilization, who would, without its aid, have been doomed to destruction-that by its exertions British trade to China, South America, and many other parts of the world, has been immeasurably increased-that with much suffering and sacrifice of life it has, in the most pestiferous of climates, greatly decreased, and in some places suppressed, the nefarious slave-trade-that for the benefit of science and navigation, it has explored the most distant regions, penetrating to the icy poles as well as up the rivers of Africa-that it has surveyed a wide extent of coast, visited constantly by merchantmen, though, to their great peril, often before imperfectly known-that it has made the British name loved and respected in all lands-and that without a single exception, under circumstances the most difficult, and trials the most appalling, it has ever been found willing and ready nobly to do its duty. Feeling sensibly the importance of a work of a character like the present, I can scarcely do it adequate justice; and this arises from no want of zeal on my part, but from the difficulty of collecting from Naval men full accounts of the gallant deeds they have performed, their modesty often preventing them from giving their narratives with the desirable completeness. True bravery may be discovered, and discipline may be conspicuous in the darkest night during the horrors of the storm-on the sinking wreck-on the barren sands of a desert island-on the unmanageable raft, amid sickness and famine, with a lowering and uncertain future ahead; or they may shine with lustre among a crew ice-bound for long years, with hope deferred, on the snow-clad shores of the Polar Sea. Before I conclude my Preface, I must beg my readers, especially the younger ones, to watch, as they proceed with the narrative, the career of those whose names are mentioned. Many who appear as midshipmen, mates, or young lieutenants, will be found rising, by their gallantry and talents, to the higher ranks of the profession, still continuing in the same noble course in which they commenced-some of them as leaders in expeditions and exploits, which, increasing the glory of their country, must make them honoured and admired while Great Britain has a history in which their deeds can be chronicled. |