With the Border Ruffians: Memories of the Far West, 1852-1868
Robert Hamilton Williams
Paperback
(Forgotten Books, Aug. 24, 2012)
He whose adventurous story is told in the following pages was born in the summer of 1831, the eldest of a large family, his father being a country clergyman. His father and mother intended him for the Church ;he himself had aspirations for the A rmy, or the Indian Service, but neither could be managed for lack of means. Finally he went to sea as a middy on Messrs. Green s East Indiaman the Madagascar, sailing from London in February, 1848, when he was nearly seventeen years old. Green swas in those days the best service in England ;but it was too staid, too quiet, for a youth like this, thirsting for adventure, so after one voyage to India he gave it up. After this he shipped as an ordinary seaman on a Liverpool barque, bound for Callao to load with guano at the Pixo I slands. The ship, having got her evil-smelling cargo on board, returned to Callao, where the boy (he was only eighteen) deserted to escape the brutal illtreatment of the captain. When the barque had sailed he emerged from his hiding-place in the pampas, and for some months worked as mate on board a small coasting brig. The gold fever in California was then at its height, and his next idea was to get to the new Eldorado if possible, where fortune awaited the fortunate and adventures were to be met with at every turn.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at