A Breath of Sea Air 



that the sea was a kind place, its transparencies more intriguing 

 than the opaque soil, he could find no practical grounds for 

 hoping that he himself would ever be able to live the seafaring 

 life that he was beginning to covet. He had no money whatsoever, 

 not even the little capital that would be necessary to set him up 

 in business as a lobsterman. And, anyhow, lobsters would not, 

 by themselves, provide a sufficient livelihood, not, at least, if 

 they were fished on the modest Orcadian scale. These fishermen 

 were farmers and they depended upon their crops for the better 

 part of their subsistence. Their sea was a luxury though it pro- 

 vided them with further luxuries. And Jan had neither the skill 

 nor the experience to hope for employment in any other part of 

 the fishing industry. 



And yet he had to find something to do in this strange new 

 country where he was just beginning to learn the language. He 

 had to learn to support himself all over again, just as a man who 

 has been crippled for a long time has to relearn the art of walking. 

 Luckily for him, though historically it was one of the most un- 

 fortunate and miserable of modern facts, he was far from being 

 alone. The exiled Polish authorities were trying desperately to 

 refit thousands of ex-soldiers to civilian life in an alien country. 

 It so happened that they, too, thought of the sea and of the fishing 

 industry which was drastically undermanned in post-war Britain. 

 With the co-operation of some Scottish fishing communities 

 they set up a school for trawlermen in Aberdeen and began a 

 propaganda campaign to persuade their land lubbering com- 

 patriots to conquer their lifelong distaste for the foreignness of 

 cold salt water. To these authorities it came as a pleasant surprise 

 when Jan wrote enthusiastically from the Orkneys asking if he 

 would be eligible for a place in this academy. They hurried to 

 assure him that he would, and he was soon on his way to Aberdeen. 



13 



