National Network for Equitable Library Service

First published in 1900, Joshua Slocum's autobiographical account of his solo trip around the world is one of the most remarkable, and entertaining travel narratives of all time. Setting off alone from Boston aboard the thirty-six foot wooden sloop Spray in April 1895, Captain Slocum went on to join the ranks of the world's great circumnavigators (Magellan, Drake, and Cook). But by circling the globe without crew or consorts, Slocum would outdo them all: his three-year solo voyage of more than 46,000 miles remains unmatched in maritime history for courage, skill, and determination. This memoir recounts Slocum's adventures: hair-raising encounters with pirates off Gibraltar and savage Indians in Tierra del Fuego ; raging tempests and treacherous coral reefs ; flying fish for breakfast in the Pacific ; and an hilarious visit with Henry ("Dr. Livingstone, I presume?") Stanley in South Africa.