Life in the Mercantile Marine. By Charles Protheroe. (John Lane.
38. 6d. net.)—Mr. Protheroe's experiences date back to a somewhat remote past, as remoteness is reckoned nowadays. In his first voyage his ship, which he had newly joined as an apprentice, took fifty days to reach the longitude of the Horn (starting from New Zealand) ; since then he has seen much of the rough, as well as something of the smooth, of life at sea. He does not write with the direct object of calling attention to the grievances of sailors ; his evidence on the subject is all the more valuable for that. One is the everlastingly recurring matter of ships' stores. Mr. Protheroe, who takes what is, on the whole, a cheerful and good-humoured view of his subject, seems to have found them, for the most part, scanty and bad. Another note- worthy point is his answer to the question, Which do you prefer, sail or steam ? " Sail," he would reply, if the steamship has to rely on a single screw.
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