INTRODUCTION 



The ocean, that vast, restless expanse of water 

 which covers three-fourths of our earth's sur- 

 face, has ever been an interesting theme; a 

 thing of wonder, romance and mystery. 



Even to-day, when science has solved many 

 of the mysteries of the sea and when great iron 

 steamships have made the ocean-lanes almost 

 as well travelled and as definite as city boule- 

 vards, we still experience a sort of awe, a tin- 

 gling of suppressed excitement and a feeling 

 that we are approaching the mysterious and 

 unknown when we set forth on an ocean 

 voyage. 



To the younger generation the sea appeals 

 particularly and few indeed are the healthy- 

 minded boys who do not love tales of pirates 

 or buccaneers or yarns of wrecks, castaways 

 and other stories of the sea. 



Fascinating as are the romances and mys- 

 teries of the sea, scarcely less interesting are 

 the actual facts about the ocean, for, when it 



