It is possible that some may have read my previous Through Brittany in "Charmina," which narrated our cruise from Torbay to St. Malo, thence by inland waters and sea to the city of Nantes, where Charmina was laid up for the winter.

Preface.

In order to avoid repetition, the reader is begged to remember that "Charmina" is a 6-ton auxiliary, wooden yawl, measuring 28 feet long, 24 feet on the water-line, with a beam of 8 feet, and a draught of 4.3 feet.

Note.

Later or sooner even an English winter, with all its dismal drabness, must arrive at an end; sunshine, and hope, and green colouring come back to the land; fresh leafage clothes the countryside; and those of us who are sea-struck yearn with an ardent longing for the joyous sound of gurgling water at the bows, the smell of salt-laden breezes, the motion of a sail-driven vessel lifting her way over the waves.

Chapter I. Down the Loire.