Excerpt from A Voyage of William Belshaw: A Native of Liverpool, Up the Mediterranean, Published in 1839 I was born in the year 1802, on the 27th day of May, of honest and industrious parents. About the age of eleven years, I engaged my self on board a vessel upon trial as an apprentice. We put to sea, ' but our ship springing a dangerous leak, we were obliged to put back to Liverpool, the port from which we started, Where we got a thorough repair. My parents were Seen aware of my disposition, and though my mother objected to my following such a dangerous life, yet my father seemed determined I should go; and though the brig was only destined for Dublin, he believed this short trip Would give me enough of the disasters of a seafaring life. In deed I was not anxious to venture again in this ves sel, she was so old and creaky, and as a new ship was then about to sail to the West Indies, I was de termined to run away. From the the latter. I did so, but fearing t pa rents, I absented myself 'from home at the end of which, hunger compell'ed_ me to return, ' and gladly my poor mother received me with Open arms, as she had just heard that the ship was lost, and all hands on beard had perished. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.