Hair Breadth Escapes Perilous incidents in the lives of sailors and travelers in Japan, Cuba, East Indies, etc., etc.

"On the 10th of May, 1569, we left Amsterdam, accompanied by the good wishes of the whole town, and as a favourable wind filled our sails, we made our way so rapidly towards the...

We were, however, diverted from these thoughts by the announcement that we were to change our quarters as soon as the fine weather set in. Accordingly, on the first of April, we...

The steward and I delayed not an instant in taking advantage of this favourable moment. We immediately put into one of the fishing boats, a cask of water, a brandy flask, a ham...

But the fire was quicker than they. The smoke, which rose like a pillar of clouds through the hatchway, was now mingled with red tongues of flame, which, like fiery serpents, tw...

A sailor, who was followed by the ship's surgeon, brought down on his back, the poor fellow who had been wounded, and laid him on the table. I must here remark that the captain'...

"In high spirits and full of courage, we now began a voyage, which certainly was the most remarkable ever undertaken. Crowded together in two wretched, open, and heavily laden b...

After they had landed, and proceeded a few steps, they came upon a servant of that _honest_ official to whose house the fifth assassin had been tracked, and who was to have furn...

The Japanese were so startled at our sudden appearance, that they stepped backwards a few paces; but when they saw that we were unarmed, they grew bolder, advanced towards us, s...

On the following morning, whilst every thing was yet still, I heard, to my great joy, some Russian words very plainly pronounced. I sprang up from the bench on which I was lying...

When the men who, as we have said had landed on the smaller rock had assembled, they found it incapable of holding so many--all could not stand in the narrow space its surface a...

PAGE Pirate Life. 5 Captivity among the Japanese. 37 A Sea-Fight on the Cuban Coast. 91 A Winter in the Frozen Ocean. 125 The Shipwreck. 150 Voyage to the East Indies. 165 Home-...

The animal kingdom of the tropical ocean is extraordinarily rich and varied. The sea birds are distinguished by their size, and beauty of plumage, and greatly surpass those that...

On the first day of December, a long range of blue hills rose on the far horizon as if springing from the sea; we soon found it to be the coast of Sumatra. Contrary winds kept u...