 | The pilot |  |
iii
TO
WILLIAM BRANDFORD SHUBRICK,
ESQUIRE,
MAST. COM. U. S. NAVY.
MY DEAR SHUBRICK,
Each year causes some new and
melancholy chasm in what is now the brief
list of my naval friends and former associates.
War, disease, and the casualties
of a hazardous profession, have made fearful
inroads in the limited number; while
the places of the dead are supplied by
names that to me are strangers. With the
consequences of these sad changes before
me, I cherish the recollection of those with
whom I once lived in close familiarity with
iv
their growing reputations, that is but little
short of their own honest pride.
But neither time nor separation have
shaken our intimacy: and I know that in
dedicating to you these volumes, I tell you
nothing new, when I add, that it is a tribute
paid to an enduring friendship, by
Your old messmate,
THE AUTHOR.
v
| The pilot | |