Epigraph
“THE MERCHANTMEN”
“Beyond all outer charting
We sailed where none have sailed,
And saw the land-lights burning
On islands none have hailed;
Our hair stood up for wonder,
But when the night was done,
There danced the deep to windward
Blue-empty ’neath the sun.”
Rudyard Kipling.
“We’re outward bound this very day,
Good-bye, fare you well,
Good-bye, fare you well.
We’re outward bound this very day,
Hurrah, my boys, we’re outward bound.”
(From a chantey sung while sheeting home topsails.)