8096 



On the Opportunities of 



and patrons in England, the contents are generally regarded as lum- 

 ber, and after remaining for a time where they were first placed, they 

 are laid aside or thrown away to make room for something more use- 

 ful. It is this utter want of system, this absence of rudimentary 

 information, which renders the ordinary collections of seamen so 

 entirely valueless. 



There are, however, a few, a very few, honourable exceptions, in 

 men whose intelligence leads them to see the value of the opportuni- 

 ties they enjoy, and to make use of them, as far as in them lies, for 

 the improvement and advancement of knowledge. The interest of the 

 objects brought home by them can only be appreciated by those who 

 are so fortunate as to have them brought under their immediate atten- 

 tion, and is a strong stimulus to the natural desire for further and 

 more abundant accessions. The willingness of these gentlemen to 

 render their assistance in any direction in which their scientific 

 friends ashore point out that they can be useful, only serves to place 

 in the strongest possible light the immense value which would accrue 

 to Science were a large body of such men, instead of only one or two, 

 constantly employing themselves in a similar manner. We cannot 

 expect all captains of vessels, or indeed perhaps any, to use in this 

 direction the intelligence of a Darwin or a Huxley ; but it is not, 

 perhaps, too much to look for that they should exercise a moderate 

 degree of interest in the acquisition of rudimentary information, and 

 a certain amount of capacity in the selection and collection of the 

 multifarious objects which daily come under their notice. 



The difficulties which are uniformly brought forward against the 

 idea of seamen turning their attention to Natural History are chiefly 

 on the score of want of time to attend to anything except their own 

 immediate business. But those who are best competent to judge give 

 a different account. They tell us, indeed, that the seaman, during 

 his passage through subordinate grades, has his hands full, and his 

 attention entirely occupied by his ship duties ; but when he is en- 

 trusted with a command the case is different : he is no longer a 

 servant on board his vessel, but a master ; his life of active employ- 

 ment is changed for one of comparative idleness ; and it is well if the 

 time thus left on his hands is not put to an evil use. Sailors have not 

 the advantages which the mechanic enjoys upon shore ; none of the 

 ordinary rational modes of spending his hours of leisure are open to 

 him ; he is dependent upon himself for amusement, and this is more 

 particularly the case with the captain. How often, unfortunately, do 

 we hear of captains of merchant vessels being charged with intern- 



