The Voyages of the Ranger and Crusader, by W.H.G. Kingston.
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The Ranger is a naval vessel, employed largely as a troopship, carrying
men to India and other areas in which the British strove to keep the
peace, the Pax Britannica, while the Crusader is being used as an
emigrant ship, carrying people looking for a new life in New Zealand.
It appears that many emigrants were a pretty useless lot, whom no life
anywhere would have suited, and this comes out very clearly towards the
end of the book. That was far being the universal rule, and this book
shows the pluck and courage under adversity of the better class of
emigrant.
Both vessels run into difficult situations, and the story is about how
the passengers and crews managed to pull through them. The Crusader
fares worst, being a total loss not very far from New Zealand. The
survivors work hard to feed themselves and at the same time to build a
vessel, the New Crusader, in which they can get themselves to New
Zealand. Even on this final leg of the story they run into a problem
with hostile natives. At this point the Ranger appears and effects a
rescue, so that the better class of emigrants have survived, while the
worse class, who had joined with some of the seamen to stage a mutiny,
nearly all die.
A very good read, or of course you can make yourself an audiobook of it.
There are the usual Kingston swimming episodes, but always so
beautifully described.
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THE VOYAGES OF THE RANGER AND CRUSADER, BY W.H.G. KINGSTON.