Pig-Headed Sailor Men

by Louis Becke

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About this book

A conversation on a calm crossing from Holyhead to Ireland brings back memories of captains whose stubbornness put their ships in danger. Louis Becke's first-person sea narrative turns to the South Pacific, where the narrator recalls travelling from Sydney towards Samoa aboard Captain Rosser's barque. A challenge from the commander of a newly built brigantine sets practical seamanship against confidence that proves badly misplaced.

The episodes combine shipboard talk, sudden changes of weather and the hazards of coral reefs. In another passage, a vessel carrying the narrator and his trading goods strikes a reef, leaving its people to find a way ashore through the surf. Details of rigging, boats and a bag of silver give the account its working maritime texture. Readers interested in sea stories will find a sharp concern with judgment, responsibility and the skill of crews under pressure.

About the author

Louis Becke

Louis Becke was an Australian short-story writer and novelist whose years as a trader and traveler in the Pacific supplied much of his subject matter. Born George Lewis Becke in Port Macquarie, he went to sea young, worked in Samoa and Micronesia, survived shipwreck, and later turned those experiences into fiction.