AN AMERICAN SAILOR'S YARN.* WE have before us an extremely
well-written and interesting autobiography of a successful naval man, who seems to have owed his advancement rather to his own energy and zeal in his profession than to personal influence, or to any other fortuitous advantages. It is written throughout in the spirit of patriotism to which we are accustomed among our own seamen ; and the author, though a Southerner, main- tained his allegiance to the North, and took a prominent part in most of the important naval operations, from the great Civil War to the war with Spain.
Admiral Evans was born in Virginia in 1846, in the old slavery days, and his opinion on slavery is worth recording as the mature verdict of a man who has had unusually good opportunities for forming an independent judgment. On the one hand, he asserts that the slaves were, as a rule, well treated, and were apparently happier than since they were emancipated, and were much superior to native Africans ; and on the other, he declares, without enlarging on the subject, that slavery was a much greater curse to the whites than to the blacks.
After the death of his father young Evans went to live with an uncle at Washington, and in 1859 Mr. Hooper, the Delegate in Congress from the Territory of Utah, offered him an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. This necessitated a rather dangerous preliminary journey to Utah and back, during which buffaloes and Indians were en- countered; but even then the buffaloes, though still in count- less herds, were being recklessly slaughtered for their tongues alone, the carcases being then abandoned to the wolves, with- out even the hide being removed.
The attack on the Confederate stronghold, Fort Fisher, was the turning-point in young Evans's career. Having volunteered for a landing party, he was severely wounded in both legs, and only saved them in hospital by keeping his revolver under his pillow, and threatening to shoot any doctor who brought a case of instruments near him. After his recovery he was appointed to the Piscataqua,' for service in Chinese waters. The cruise lasted about three years in China, Japan, Hong-kong, the Philippines, &c. Although it seems to have been very pleasant, the author remarks : "Our China cruise was over, and none of us regretted either that we had had it, or that it was behind us." He considers the Japanese far superior to the Chinese ; but it is only fair to the latter to remember that those who have really lived among them are not always unanimous on this point. Evans was subsequently appointed executive officer to the 'Congress,' in which he visited Africa and the Mediter- ranean; and next served as Commander of the gunboat York- town,' in which he sailed to Chili, where the relations between the Chilians and the United States were much strained, and he had the greatest difficulty in preventing an outbreak of hostilities. Next he was ordered north, with the 'Yorktown' and other vessels of the fleet, to prevent sealing in Bering Sea.
After a short interval as Naval Secretary of the Lighthouse Board, Evans was appointed Captain of the fine new armoured cruiser New York,' and was sent to Kiel to represent America at the opening of the ship canal. Here he met the Kaiser, who afterwards inspected all the arrangements of the vessel with great interest. An episode of the visit to Kiel we may quote as a good specimen of Admiral Evans's style :—
"At a reception given on board one of the German battle- ships on the Sunday after our arrival I had an interesting experience. When I went over the side I found a large company, most of them dancing. As I was not a dancing man, I stood to one side to be out of the way, and entered into conversation with a young, clean-cut-looking German Captain who spoke English per- fectly. It was soon evident to me that he was brilliant in his pro- fession, and we engaged in a rather sharp professional talk. I did not agree with the Captain, whose name I had not caught, and did not hesitate to speak my mind,—nor did he. After a time he said he would be glad to present me to his wife, which he did, and I found her a very charming and attractive woman. Of • A Sailor's Log : Recollections of Forty Years of Naval Life. By Robley D. Evans, Rear-Admiral U.S.N. Illustrated. London : Smith, Elder, and Co. [8s. 6d.] course I had not caught her name either, and after talking with her half-an-hour, I noticed that a good many people seemed to be waiting to speak to her, so I took myself off to the smoking apartment to enjoy a cigar. When I entered, Admiral Knorr greeted me, and said, Evans, the Prince says you are a good fellow, and he wants the Emperor to know you.' I replied, 'my dear Admiral, I haven't seen the Prince, and don't know him!
Well,' he said, 'you ought to know him, you have been talking shop with him for half-an-hour, and I don't know what you have been saying to the Princess during your conversation with her.' I had been talking with two of the most delightful people I ever met, Prince Henry and the Princess Irene, without in the least knowing who they were, and I certainly told them both exactly what I thought about the different things we discussed."
Captain Evans after his return to America was ordered to. Philadelphia to fit out and command the Indiana,' in which he sailed one or two short cruises, during which he encountered a terrific storm. On the outbreak of the war
with Spain he was appointed to command the Iowa,' and took a leading part in the destruction of the Spanish fleet, afterwards receiving Admiral Cervera on board the Iowa.'
It will be seen that the Admiral has contrived to get much matter into his four hundred and sixty-two pages, but there is not a dry page in the book ; and if Emperors and Admirals
and wars find a place in it, minor subjects, such as boat- races, cobras, serpent-charmers, sharks, octopi, &c., likewise-
receive a due proportion of the author's attention. Several of the fourteen full-page illustrations are devoted to the various ships in which Admiral Evans served or commanded, and two ofthem illustrate the visits of the German Emperor and of Admiral Cervera to the battleships New York' and Iowa' respectively.
Taken as a whole, the book is worthy of the great-hearted seaman who wrote it. The deep-sea literatr re of our race on both sides of the Atlantic is full of noble books, and it finds a notable addition in Admiral Evans's manly and fascinating Recollections.
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