The cruise of the Nona The story of a cruise from Holyhead to the Wash, with reflections and judgments on life and letters, men and manners
sort of holiness about the air. I was even glad that we had thus to lie
outside under such a calm and softly radiant sky, with its few stars
paling before their queen.
We slept under such benedictions, and in the morning woke to find a
little air coming up from the south like a gift, an introduction to
the last harbour. We gave the flood full time (for they do not open
the gates, and cannot, till high water); then, setting only mainsail
and jib, we heaved our anchor up for the last time, and moved at our
pleasure majestically between the piers, and turned the loyal and
wearied Nona towards the place of her repose.
‘And now good-bye to thee,
Thou well-beloved sea,’
as John Phillimore very excellently translates the Greek of other
landed sailors dead.
The sea is the consolation of this our day, as it has been the
consolation of the centuries. It is the companion and the receiver of
men. It has moods for them to fill the storehouse of the mind, perils
for trial, or even for an ending, and calms for the good emblem of
death. There, on the sea, is a man nearest to his own making, and in
communion with that from which he came, and to which he shall return.
For the wise men of very long ago have said, and it is true, that out
of the salt water all things came. The sea is the matrix of creation,
and we have the memory of it in our blood.
But far more than this is there in the sea. It presents, upon the
greatest scale we mortals can bear, those not mortal powers which
brought us into being. It is not only the symbol or the mirror, but
especially is it the messenger of the Divine.
There, sailing the sea, we play every part of life: control, direction,
effort, fate; and there can we test ourselves and know our state. All
that which concerns the sea is profound and final. The sea provides
visions, darknesses, revelations. The sea puts ever before us those
twin faces of reality: greatness and certitude; greatness stretched
almost to the edge of infinity (greatness in extent, greatness in
changes not to be numbered), and the certitude of a level remaining
forever and standing upon the deeps. The sea has taken me to itself
whenever I sought it and has given me relief from men. It has rendered
remote the cares and the wastes of the land; for of all creatures
that move and breathe upon the earth, we of mankind are the fullest
of sorrow. But the sea shall comfort us, and perpetually show us new
things and assure us. It is the common sacrament of this world. May it
be to others what it has been to me.
THE END
The Cruise of the Nona
HILAIRE BELLOC
A good many years ago, a unique book entitled “The Path to Rome,” by
Hilaire Belloc, was published, which has taken an enduring place in
our literature. On the thread of a narrative of a walking tour through
France and Italy Mr. Belloc strung memories and reflections which made
the book as stimulating as it was delightful.
In “The Cruise of the Nona” he employs much the same device as a
vehicle for his riper thought and richer experience. “I propose to
write a book,” says Mr. Belloc, “called ‘The Cruise of the Nona.’ The
‘Nona’ is the name of my boat, a nine-ton boat in which I have done
a great deal of sailing during the last twenty years. The book would
consist mainly in reminiscences, judgments, stories, and all the rest
that comes into a man’s mind when he is thinking upon the past and upon
his own acquired knowledge.”
On the surface, “The Cruise of the Nona” is a breezy record of an
adventurous cruise; underneath the surface, it is one of the wisest and
most pregnant studies of modern life in many phases, particularly in
its War and post-War phases, that have seen the light in many years.
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
Transcriber’s Notes
1. Italic text in the original is delimited by underscores.
2. Blackletter text in the original is delimited by both underscores
and equals signs.
3. Hyphenated words were silently joined across lines and pages when
the intended word was clear.
4. The following table notes the other material changes made to
the printed text, in order to correct apparent printing errors
(punctuation, spelling, quotation marks, repeated words), and to
standardize spelling and hyphenation for identical words to the more
frequent usage across the text. Changes are denoted in [brackets].
=Page= =Text= =Operation=
9 believe it[.] Added.
34 see[’,/,’] Replaced.
36 warping[-/ ]ropes Replaced.
45 north[-]west Removed.
85 subject[s] Added.
188 north[-]eastern Removed.
192 off[-]shore Removed.
269 politic[i]an Added.
277 north[-]easterly Removed.
280 north[-]easterly Removed.
281 north[-]east Removed.
293 north[-]east Removed.
310 off[-]shore Removed.