The Wing and Wing (Illustrated)

In 1806, at the age of seventeen, Cooper joined the crew of the merchant ship Sterling as a common sailor. At the time, the Sterling was commanded by the young John Johnston from Maine where Cooper served as a common seaman before the mast. His first voyage, taking some forty stormy days at sea, brought him to an English market in Cowes with a cargo of flour. There Cooper saw his first glimpses of...