Show ta BEFORE THE MAST bl 1 IN I 1 mr wm win J starley let us read abe book two years before the by R 11 dana jr which gives his experience on a mercia merda ant vessel in 1835 6 to california after hides before the great wave tor for gold which filled california with a seeth ing multitude dana keeps a journal noting in it dally daily a of the days day s occurs occur bences to be expanded later in this way he has sufficient data to keep memory fresh and when le 1 e comes conies to the task of writing his energies are not absorbed in the difficulty ot of rec lalling a lapsed memory and all his powers can be given to the matter of making his book interest ing ln expanding his notes and going into details it is the best sea ea story we have ever read not that we have read all by any means and its particular interest is that it is practically the earliest book referring to california its great charm lies in the fact that dana Is a brilliant writer keeps in berst keen portrays the life of a sea man with vividness and accuracy details the hard work the exposure the danger a man overboard and never found a death at sea the captain flies off the handle and flogs two men and all written by a college man a charm of pres ent lation tion that has made tor for the book a national reputation meriting in elusion in the harvard classics twenty tour four years later he re turns san francisco whick was a hut of boards only when he visited it first has become a city of over a hundred thousand pueblo da los angeles an inland mexican ham let deader than a door nail has so grown that be he then 1861 sas says it may become a large center ins ills reception after all those years as now a world traveler on his way around the globe his reputation as a writer his concluding chapters are lust just as interesting as the body of the book we enjoyed the volume thanks tor for the privilege |