Why I Did Not Go To Sea Author:R. M. Ballantyne Such were the words, uttered in the most terrifically violent bass tones, that awoke me on the first morning after I went to sea. Instantly all the men around me leaped out of their hammocks. They were all half-dressed, and I noticed that the greater part of them completed their toilet in the short interval between quitting their hammocks and ga... more »ining the deck. Jack and I had lain down in our clothes, so we were on deck almost as soon as the others.« less