Seafaring Lore and Legend"A valuable and lively resource. Jeans sorts truth from fiction with a sure hand and does full justice to both."—Peter Stanford, President Emeritus, National Maritime Historical Society “A veritable sourcebook of nautical history, beliefs, and heritage. Every true mariner will get lost in this book.”—Boating Seafaring Lore and Legend is a storehouse of wonders for those who love the sea. From Noah’s Ark to Thor Heyerdahl’s raft, from Atlantis to the Northwest Passage, author Peter Jeans scours the ages and the seven seas for fanciful, inspiring, and bizarre tales of sea monsters, ghost ships, lost continents, castaways, pirates, explorers, superstitions, and customs. Discover the surprising truths behind:
This is a book you can open anywhere to savor for a few minutes or an afternoon. But be careful: it's easy to lose track of time at sea. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 3
... Pacific or the Indian Ocean is driving you onto a rock-fanged lee shore, you are going to call on every prayer and superstitious belief known to man in the hope of saving your miserable skin. Never mind that many of these talismans are ...
... Pacific in order to rejoin his Australian wife in Sydney. Such a voyage shows what can be achieved when one is armed with little more than tenacity and fierce determination. The survival story of Poon Lim (chapter 13), who spent 133 ...
... Pacific (see Kon-Tiki Expedition, chapter 3). He was born prematurely to his mother Taranga, who immediately wrapped him in some of her hair (some accounts say her apron) and abandoned him to the sea, but a jellyfish protected the child ...
Contents
1 | |
13 | |
30 | |
3 Legendary Voyages | 43 |
4 Sea Quests of Old | 64 |
5 Maritime History | 85 |
6 Nautical Custom | 95 |
7 Life at Sea | 104 |
12 Navigable Waters | 206 |
13 Castaways and Survivors | 214 |
14 At Odds with the Law | 227 |
15 Sea Fancies | 246 |
16 Myth and Mystery | 254 |
17 Sea Monsters | 276 |
18 Wraiths of the Sea | 295 |
19 Superstition and Belief | 304 |
8 The Captain and His Ship | 134 |
9 A Murmuring of Men | 161 |
10 Big Ships and Battles | 176 |
11 Death and Disaster | 192 |
Sources and Notes | 329 |
Select Bibliography | 350 |
Index | 362 |