Dick Cheveley, His Adventures and Misadventures, by W.H.G Kingston.
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Dick is the teenage son of an early nineteenth century vicar in England.
The boy has a passionate desire to go to sea, but his family, especially
his Aunt Deb, oppose this. One reason is that if he were to go as a
midshipman he would be required to have at least fifty pounds a year to
keep appearances up, and that money wasn't available.
He forms a friendship with another boy, Mark, who gets into trouble for
being a poacher. Dick peaches on the local smugglers, who imprison him,
and he is nearly killed by them.
Wandering out of curiosity round the decks of a ship that is about to
sail he falls through a hatchway, and right down into the lower hold.
When he comes to the ship is at sea, and the hold is battened down. It
takes him several weeks before he can attract attention. But the
captain is a horrible man, and some of the crew are not much better.
Eventually Dick jumps ship by stealing a ship's dinghy, and lands on a
tiny rocky islet. The dinghy is lost in a storm. Eventually Dick is
rescued and is taken back to his home town, where he vows never to go to
sea again.
The story was written as a cautionary tale to advise boys like Dick
never to go to sea as a stowaway, which is effectually what Dick did,
and was inspired by a real case, in which the boy was found dying after
only thirteen days at sea.
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