PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION. This compilation was originally intended to assist young sea officers in the stowage of a variety of goods in a ship's hold, but other subjects, such as freightage, &c. were found to be so intimately connected with stowage, that it became necessary to append remarks on them. The reader is kindly requested to bear in mind the following facts, viz :— that this is the first attempt to compile, in a systematic form, instructions on the subject of stowage; in the next place, that those best acquainted with the art do not agree in many particulars; and lastly, that in stowing some cargoes there is a confliction of interests between the merchant and the shipmaster. To meet these difficulties, the manuscript was submitted for correction, to several authorities experienced in the coasting, colonial, and foreign trades; and while passing through the press, proofs of every article on the superior branches of commerce, were sent to merchants, shipmasters, and manufacturers engaged therein. There may, however, still exist a difference of opinion on certain points, and communications thereon will be greatly esteemed by the publisher, in order that a work which it is hoped will prove useful to the mercantile community, may be made more complete in future editions. In preparing this work the following authorities have been consulted: McCulloch's Dictionary of Commerce. Harrison's Freighter's Guide. Gordon's Charterer's Companion. Baltic Shipmaster's Guide. Sedgwick's Golden Hints to Young Mariners. Lorimer's Letters to a Master Mariner. Murphy's Nautical Routine. Brady's Kedge Anchor. The Mate and his Duties: Lee's Laws of Shipping. Manley Hopkins on Average. Shipping and Mercantile Gazette. |