Peter Jeans was born in Perth in 1936. He was educated at Geraldton Senior High School and was graduated in English from the University of Western Australia in 1962. In 1962 he resigned his job, sailed to Singapore, bought a motorcycle, and spent fifteen months riding it overland to London, arriving on Westminster Bridge in September, 1963. The story of this adventure is described in his book Long Road to London. His love for seafaring lore began when he wrote his first nautical book, Ship To Shore: A Dictionary of Everyday Words and Phrases Dervived from the Sea. He has been an English teacher, a columnist, and is an avid writer and sailor. He and his wife, Judith, and two sons live in Perth. AUTHOR HOMETOWN: Perth, Australia

Acknowledgments

Note to the Reader

Introduction1. In the Beginning

Great Floods

Moses and the Red Sea

The Rainbow

Maui, Creator of New Zealand

Oceanus

King Neptune

Poseidon

Amphitrite

Aphrodite

Portunus

Castor and Pollux

Nereus

Hero and Leander

Scylla and Charybdis

Manannan, Celtic Sea God2. Fabled Lands

Pillars of Hercules

Colossus of Rhodes

Ultima Thule

The Hesperides

Tarshish

Taprobane

Distant Ophir

Magnetic Islands

Hy Brasil

Island of Ogygia

Island of Delos

Lemuria, Lost Continent

Lost Land of Lyonesse3. Legendary Voyages

Sindbad the Sailor

Gulliver's Travels

Hanno the Navigator

Prince Madoc of Wales

Voyages of Saint Brendan

Voyages of Gil Eannes

Polynesian Seafarers

The Kon-Tiki Expedition4. Sea Quests of Old

The Argosy

The Argonauts

The Odyssey

Vinland USA

The Northwest Passage

The Great South Land

Moby Dick5. Maritime History

The British Royal Navy
Naval Salutes

Plimsoll Line

Lloyd's of London

P&O Shipping Line

Beaufort Wind Scale6. Nautical Custom

The Bucentaur

Crossing the Line

To Flog a Dead Horse

The Getting of Grog

Traveling POSH7. Life at Sea

Ocean Waves

Trade Winds

The Sargasso Sea

The Seven Seas

Cape Horn

The Cape Horners

On the Spanish Main

Prize Money

First Rate

Of Knots and Logs

Scurvy

Deep-Sea Diving

Sea Chanties8. The Captain and His Ship

Ship Types

The Age of Sail

The Clipper Ships

The Windjammers

Christopher Columbus

Lord Anson

Captain James Cook

John Paul Jones

Lord Nelson9. A Murmuring of Men

The Batavia Wreck and Mutiny
HMS Bounty Mutiny

HMS Hermione Mutiny

Spithead and the Nore Mutiny

The Press Gang10. Big Ships and Battles

RMS Titanic

HMS Ark Royal

RMS Queen Mary

HMS Dreadnought

The Spanish Armada

The Battle of Copenhagen

The Battle of Jutland

The Sinking of HMAS Sydney11. Death and Disaster

USS Scorpion

HMS Royal George

The Gilt Dragon

HMS Birkenhead

RMS Lusitania

SS Waratah

The Whaler Essex

The William Brown

Wrecker's Coast12. Navigable Waters

The Amazon River

The Panama Canal

The Suez Canal13. Castaways and Survivors

Robinson Crusoe

Icebound by North

Poon Lim

Herbert Kabat

John Caldwell

Tropic Island Hell14. At Odds with the Law

Pirates

Buccaneers

Earrings for Cutthroats

Henry Every

William Kidd

Edward Teach ("Blackbeard")

Anne Bonny

Mary Read15. Sea Fancies

Mermaids

Sirens

The Lorelei

Selkies

Halcyon Days

King Canute16. Myth and Mystery

Fabled Atlantis

The Bermuda Triangle

The Flannan Isles

The Flying Dutchman

The Mary Celeste

The Schooner Jenny

USS Cyclops17. Sea Monsters

Monster Caddie

Captain M'Quhae's Monster

Haiphong Monster

Monster Kraken

Loch Ness Monster

Rattray Head Monster

Cape Cod Monster

Cape São Roque Monster

Halifax Monster

Whaler Daphne's Monster

Nahant Beach Monster

Jonah and the Whale

Orcs, Whales, and Leviathan

The Bunyip of the Billabongs18. Wraiths of the Sea

Capes of Virginia Phantom

Gulf of Saint Lawrence Ghost Ship

Long Island Sound Ghost Ship

New Haven Ghost Ship

Ghosts of Dead Men

The Vikings of Solway Firth

Phantom Pilots19. Superstition and Belief

Launching a Ship

Coin Under the Mast

Ships' Names

Ships' Figureheads

Departures

The Eyes of Her

Guiding Star

The Lodestone

Unlucky Ships

Women Aboard Ship

Whistling Aboard Ship

Ringing Glass Aboard Ship

Sharks Astern

Ship's Cat

Coffins Aboard Ship

Flowers Aboard Ship

Flags, Bags, Bells, and Rags

Umbrellas Aboard Ship

The Albatross

Our Flat Earth

Saint Elmo's Fire

Priests Aboard Ship

Ebb Tide

Wren's Feather

Death by Drowning

Davy Jones's Locker

Fiddler's Green

Sources and Notes

Select Bibliography

Index