PREFACE. 



I PRESENT to the Public the History of my 

 Voyage, with much timidity ; tor I am sensible 

 that few persons will be satisfied with the plain 

 style of a seaman, who, ever since he was thirteen 

 years of age, has lived only in the service to which 

 he has devoted himself. It was, indeed, my inten- 

 tion, to give my observations a value, with respect 

 to the style of the narration, to which they could 

 otherwise make no claim. My good father would 

 have taken upon him the trouble of arranging 

 them. With this hope I hastened to Mannheim. 

 The reader knows what a dreadful catastrophe met 

 me there. 



What now supports and raises me amidst the 

 painful feelings which crowd upon me, is the man 

 whose name I pronounce with gratitude and reve- 

 rence — Count Romanzoff. He needs not his 

 titles and dignities to gain esteem j for the noble 



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