In the final decades of deepwater sail, the 143' bark-rigged Charles Stewart wandered around the world - delivering a cargo that ranged from turpentine to parlour organs from New York to Tasmania and Australia, sailing on to Chile for a new cargo of guano, rounding Cape Horn to deliver that cargo to Barcelone, calling at Sicily for salt, and finally crossing the Atlantic for home. Hattie Atwood, a spirited young woman of 17, made this voyage with her father, Captain Horace Atwood, in 1883-1884, and tells us about it here. Around the World in 500 Days is, above all, delightful reading - not only for the vitality of its writing, but for its value as a window on a little world long gone. It is a guided tour from more than a century ago, a record of maritime commerce when little sailing vessels struggled to compete with steamships, a sea story, and a lively account of social life among officers, crews, families, passengers, and visitors when sailing ships sojourned in port...