THE BEST
ADVENTURE
AND
EXPLORATION
STORIES
EVER TOLD
THE BEST
ADVENTURE
AND
EXPLORATION
STORIES
EVER TOLD
EDITED BY
STEPHEN BRENNAN
Skyhorse Publishing
Copyright © 2013 by Stephen Vincent Brennan
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-62087-569-8
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
A Chronicle of the Voyages of Saint Brendan Stephen Brennan
Jonah King James Bible
Book XII of the Odyssey Homer
Northmen Voyage to Vinland Icelandic Sagas
Drake’s Circumnavigation Richard Hakluyt
The First Lowering Herman Melville
Youth Joseph Conrad
The Most Dangerous Game Richard Connell
A Nightmare of the Doldrums W. Clark Russell
The Stowaways Robert Louis Stevenson
The Seed of McCoy Jack London
Tarzan of the Apes Edgar Rice Burroughs
Charles Darwin and the Galápagos V. W. von Hagen
Florence Nightingale in Egypt Florence Nightingale
The Amundsen-Ellsworth Polar Flight Lincoln Ellsworth
Three Months in an Uninhabited Land Sven Hedin
A Wolf-Hunt in Wisconsin J. E. Chamberlin
Shipwreck Captain James Riley
The Open Boat Stephen Crane
The “Sholah” Tiger Henrietta A. Hervey
Ice Again! Richard Henry Dana Jr.
African Game Trails Theodore Roosevelt
Stanley’s Last Great Expedition Hon. J. T. Headley
The Feud of the Wild-Haymen Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen
Down Through Italy by Rail Mark Twain
Fighting the Elephant George Gordon, Lord Byron
Cavelier de La Salle Francis Parkman
Boswell and Johnson in the Hebrides James Boswell
An Outpost of Progress Joseph Conrad
South Coast Discovery, 1801 Earnest Scott
Chiloe and Concepcion: Great Earthquake Charles Darwin
The Famous Perry Expedition to Japan John S. Sewall
The Travels of Marco Polo Marco Polo
The Town-Ho’s Story Herman Melville
The Pirate Crew Set Sail Mark Twain
In Which a Conversation Takes Place Which Seems Likely to Cost Phileas Fogg Dear Jules Verne
Among the Crocodiles H. Hervey
Hippo Hunting in Africa David Pollock
How the Brigadier Slew the Fox Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Hunting Musk-Oxen Near the Pole Lieutenant R. E. Perry, USN
Lion-Hunting Alfred H. Miles
In a Cuban Cave Julius A. Palmer
Leiningen Versus the Ants Carl Stephenson
A CHRONICLE OF THE VOYAGES
OF SAINT BRENDAN
STEPHEN BRENNAN
Remember Brendan, not as a graven saint, he was a man and suffered so; in no ways proud, he sought the will of the Lord God full meekly and contrite of heart. And I have seen his eyes start from his head at some marvel, and I have seen the cold gray oceans break over him for days, and I have seen him spit salt seas and tremble with the cold. But no thing overmanned him, because in every tempest he saw the hand of God, and in every trial be sought the will of God, and trusted so, and was not afraid, and thereby gave us heart and courage. And we brethren took example from him, and thereby saved our souls.
Remember Brendan, later called Saint, born in the land of Munster, hard by the Ioch Lein. A holy man of fierce abstinence, known for his great works and the father of almost three thousand monks, he lived at Clonfert then, where we knew him at the first and last.
Recall the night, just past compline it was, when the holy abbot Barrind, later called Saint, came out of the darkness into our circle to visit Brendan. And each of them was joyful of the other. And when Brendan began to tell Barrind of the many wonders he had seen voyaging in the sea and visiting in diverse lands, Barrind at once began to sigh and anon he threw himslf prostrate upon the ground and prayed hard and then began to weep. Now Brendan comforted him the best he could, and lifting him up said: “Brother Abbot, have you not come to be joyful with us, to speak the word of God and to give us heart? Therefore for God’s love, do not be afraid, but tell us what marvels you have seen in the great ocean, that encompasses all the world.”
So Barrind began to tell Brendan and all the gathered monks of a great wonder. These were his words:
“I have a son, his name is Meroc, who had a great desire to seek about by ship in diverse countries to find a solitary place wherein he might dwell secretly out of the business of the world, in order to better serve God quietly in devotion. I counseled him to sail to an island in the sea, nearby the mountain of stones, which everybody knows. So he made ready and sailed there with his monks. And when he came there, he liked the place full well, and there settled where he and his monks served our Lord devoutly. And then I saw in a vision that this monk Meroc was sailed right far westward into the sea more than three days sailing, and suddenly to those voyagers there came a dark cloud of fog that overcovered them, so that for a great part of the day they saw no light; then as our Lord willed the fog passed away, and they saw a fair island, and thereward they drew. In that island was joy and mirth enough and all the earth of that island shone as brightly as the sun, and there were the fairest trees and herbs that ever any man saw, and here were many precious stones shining bright, and every herb was ripe, and every tree full of fruit; so that it was a glorious sight and a heavenly joy to abide there. Then there came to them a fair young man, and courteously he welcomed them all, and called every monk by his name, and said they were much bound to praise the name of our Lord Jesu, who would out of his grace show them that glorious place, where it is always day and never night, and that this place is called the garden of paradise. But by this island is another island whereon no man may come. And the fair young man said to them, ‘You have been here half a year without meat or drink or sleep.’ They supposed they had been there only half a day, so merry and joyful they were. The young man told them that this was the place where Adam and Eve lived first, and ever would have lived, if they had not broken the commandment of God. Then the fair young man brought them to their ship again and said they might no longer abide there, and when they were all shipped, suddenly the young man vanished away out of their sight. And then within a short time after, by the purveyance of the Lord Jesu, Meroc and the brothers returned to their own island where I and the other brothers received them goodly, and de
manded where they had been so long. And they said that they had been in the Land of the Blest, before the Gates of Paradise. And they asked of us, ‘Cannot you you tell from the sweetness of our clothes that we have been in Paradise?’ And I and the other brothers said, ‘We do believe you have been in God’s Paradise, but we don’t know where this Paradise is.’”
At hearing this we all lay prostrate and said, “The Lord God is just in all his works and merciful and loving to his servants, once again he has nourished our wonder with his holy spirit.”
On the day following Barrind’s visit, Brendan gathered twelve of the brothers and closed us up in the oratory saying, “If it is God’s will, I will seek that holy land of which the brother Abbot spoke. Does this appeal to you? What do you say?”
We answered Brendan thus, “Not our will but God’s. To know God’s will, we leave our families, give away what we possess, put away the lives we led and follow you, if it is the will of God.”
To better know the will of God we fasted forty days, tho not oftener than for three days running as is the rule. And during this time we sought the blessing of the holy father Edna, later called Saint, in his western island. We stayed there three days and three nights only.
Old Edna’s blessing got, we took ourselves to a lonely inlet place we called Brendan’s Butt, for he had known this spot as a boy and there sat many hours, looking away out over the ocean to the west, his seat upon a butt of stone. Here we built a vessel sufficient for a voyage of seven years. With iron tools we ribbed and framed it of ash and oak, the stepping for the mast was oak, and covered it in ox hides, well tanned, stitched together and greased with lard. Therein we put provisions for a forty days journey and many spares of ox hide, and then we got ourselves aboard and here lived devoutly twelve days, afloat but well in sight of land.
On the day set for our departure we received the sacrament and got ourselves aboard, when just as Brendan blessed us all, there came another two of his monks who prayed him that they might come with us. And he said, “You may sail with us, but one of you shall die and go to hell ere we return.” Even so, they would go with us.
And then Brendan bade the brethren raise the sail, and forth we voyaged in God’s name, so that on the morrow we were out of sight of any land. For eleven days and nights we sailed plain, and then we saw an island afar from us. We sailed thitherward as fast as we could, and soon a great reach of stone appeared afar off above the waves, and for three days we worked our way around the island before we found an inlet fit for a landing. At last we found a little haven and there we beached our leather boat.
Suddenly, bounding up to us, there came a fair hound who laid down at Brendan’s feet cheering him. So Brendan said to us, “Be of good heart, for the Lord had sent his messenger to lead us into some good place.” And the hound brought us to a fair hall, where we found tables spread with good meat and drink. Then Brendan spoke the grace and then we brethren sat down and ate and drank. And there were beds made ready for us that we might sleep after our long labor. But Brendan did not sleep, but prayed the night away upon his knees.
On the morrow we returned again to our skin boat, pushed off and sailed a long time in the sea before we found any land. At last, by the purveyance of God, we saw a full fair island of green pasture, whereon were the whitest sheep that we had ever seen. And every sheep was as big as any ox. Just after dragging our ship ashore, we were welcomed by a goodly old man who said, “This is the Isle of Sheep. Here it is never cold but ever summer. This is why the sheep are so huge, they feed all year on the best grasses and herbs anywhere.” When the old man took his leave he told us, “Voyage on, and by God’s grace, you soon will come upon a place like paradise, whereon you ought to spend your Eastertide.”
We sailed forth and soon came upon another island, but because of shallows and broken stone and the fury of the seas, we bore off and beached our skin ship instead upon a rock, where nothing grew, a small desolate island. Or so we thought, for when we lit the fire so that we might bake our grain and dress our meat, the island began to move under us. And all a panic then, amazed and full of fear, we threw ourselves into the boat, and pulled and twisted at the oars, swatting and thumping one another in our haste to be away. And lo, the island seemed to dip and we floated free and soon were well away. And all that night we spied the beacon of our fire leaping and dancing in the cold, dark ocean. Brendan must have smelled the terror on us, for he said, “Do not be afraid, it is only a great fish, the biggest in the sea. He labors night and day to swallow his own tail, but he cannot because of his great size. He is called Jasconius.”
And then anon we oared three days and nights before we sighted any land and the weariness was heavy on us. But soon after, as God would, we saw a fair island, full of flower, herbs, and trees, whereof we thanked God of his good grace, and then anon we found a little stream and followed it, walking our hide boat well in land. And then anon we found a full fair well, and thereby grew a might tree, full of boughs, and on every bough sat a white bird, and they so thick upon the tree, their number being so great, and their song being so merry that it was a heavenly noise to hear. Then Brendan fell to his knees and wept for joy, and made his prayers devoutly unto our Lord God that he might understand the meaning of the bird song. And then at once a white bird flew from the tree to Brendan. She flapped and fluttered, she hooked and danced and called, and made a merry noise full like a flute. It seemed to us no holy hymn ever was so joyful. And Brendan said, “If you are the messengers of God, tell me why you sit so thick upon the tree and why you sing so merrily?”
And the bird said, “Once upon a time, we were angels in heaven, but when our master Lucifer fell down into hell for his high pride, we fell with him for our offenses, some higher, some lower, depending on the quality of their trespass; and because our trespass was but little, our Lord has sent us here, out of all pain to live in great joy and mirth, here to serve him on this tree in the best manner that we can. Today is Sunday, can you not guess why we are all white as snow?”
And when we all remembered, we fell upon our knees and hymned praise to our good Lord Jesu Christ. And the white bird sang to Brendan, “It is twelve month past that you departed from your abbey. In the seventh year you shall come unto the place of your desire. For each of those years you shall spend the Eastertide here with us, as you do today.”
Then all the birds began to sing evensong so merrily that it was truly a heavenly noise to hear. And after supper Brendan and all of us went to bed, and slept well, and on the morrow we rose early, to hear the birds sing matins, and later prime and all such services of the holy rule.
We all abided there with Brendan eight full weeks, til after Trinity Sunday when we again sailed for the Isle of Sheep, and there we victualed well and were blessed again by the goodly old man, and returned again to our leather boat, and waited for the wind to blow fair. And ere we put out, the bird of the tree came again to us, and danced upon our prow and flapped and fluttered and sang, “I am come to tell you that you shall said from here to an island whereon there is an abbey of twenty-four monks, and there you shall hold your Christmas, but Eastertide, do not forget, you spend with us.”
And then the bird flew off.
The wind with us now, we sailed forth into the ocean, but soon fell a great tempest on us, which we were greatly troubled by for a long time and sorely belabored. And we saw, by the purveyance of God, a little island afar off, and full meekly we prayed to our Lord to send us thither in safety. It took eleven days, and in this time we monks were so weary of the long pull and the mountain gray oceans that we set little price upon our lives, and cried continually to our Lord to show us mercy and bring us to that little island in safety. And by the purveyance of God we came at last into a little haven, but so narrow that only one ship might come in. And after we had come to anchor, the brethren went ashore, and when we had long walked about, at last we found two fair wells; one was of fair clear water, and the other was somewhat troubly and thick. At
this we thanked our Lord full humbly that had brought us here, and made to drink the water, but Brendan charged us thus, “Take no water without license. If we abstain us a while longer, our Lord will purvey for us in the best wise.”
And soon after came to us a good old hoar-haired man, who welcomed us full meekly and kissed Brendan, but did not speak, and by this we understood that he observed a rule of silence. And he led us past many a fair well til we came to an abbey, where we were received with much honor and solemn procession. And then the abbot welcomed Brendan and all our fellowship, and kissed him full meekly, but did not speak. And he drew Brendan by the hand, and led us into a fair hall, and sat us down in a row on benches; and the abbot of that place, in observance of the new commandment, washed all our feet with fair clear water. And afterward, in silence still, led us into the refractory, there to seat ourselves amoung the brothers of the abbey. And anon came one who served us well of meat and drink. For every monk had set before him a fair white loaf and white roots and herbs, which we found right delicious, tho none of us could name; and we drank of the water of the fair clear well that we had seen before when first we came ashore, that Brendan had forbade us. And then the abbot came, and breaking silence, prayed us eat and drink, “For every day the Lord sends a good old man that covers this table with meat and drink for us. But we know how it comes, for we do nothing to procure it, and yet our Lord feeds us. And we are twentyfour monks in number, yet every day of the week he sends us twelve loaves, and every Sunday and feast day, twenty-four loaves, and the bread we leave at dinner we eat at supper. And now at your coming our Lord has sent us forty-eight loaves, that all of us may be merry together as brethren. And we have lived twenty-nine years here in this abbey: tho we did first come out of the abbey of Saint Patrick in Ireland eighty years ago. And here in this land it is ever fair weather, and none of us is ever sick since we came here.”
And then Brendan and the abbot and all the company went into the church, and we said evensong together, and devoutly. And when we looked upward at the crucifix, we saw our Lord hanging on a cross made of fine crystal and curiously wrought; and in the choir were twenty-four seats for twenty-four monks, and seven unlit tapers, and the abbot’s seat was made close upon the altar in the middle of the choir. And then Brendan asked the abbot, “How long have you kept silence one with another?”
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