Swallows and Amazons. Arthur Ransome

      

      By the same author

      SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS

      SWALLOWDALE

      PETER DUCK

      WINTER HOLIDAY

      COOT CLUB

      PIGEON POST

      WE DIDN’T MEAN TO GO TO SEA

      SECRET WATER

      THE BIG SIX

      MISSEE LEE

      THE PICTS & THE MARTYRS

      GREAT NORTHERN?

      COOTS IN THE NORTH & OTHER STORIES

      RACUNDRA’S FIRST CRUISE

      ROD AND LINE (FISHING ESSAYS)

      OLD PETER’S RUSSIAN TALES

      THE WAR OF THE BIRDS & THE BEASTS

      THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ARTHUR RANSOME

      (ed. Rupert Hart-Davis)

      ARTHUR RANSOME ON FISHING

      (introduced by Jeremy Swift)

      SIGNALLING FROM MARS: LETTERS

      (ed. Hugh Brogan)

      DESPATCHES

      ARTHUR RANSOME

      Illustrated by the Author

      A Godine Storyteller

      DAVID R. GODINE · PUBLISHER

      BOSTON

      This is a Godine Storyteller

      published in 1985 by

      DAVID R. GODINE · Publisher

      Post Office Box 450

      Jaffrey, New Hampshire 03452

       www.godine.com

      First Published in 1930 by Jonathan Cape Ltd.;

      new illustrated edition published in 1931;

      new edition, type re-set in 1958

      Published in eBook format by David R. Godine, Publisher

      Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or

      reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission

      from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations

      embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information

      contact Permissions, David R. Godine, Publisher,

      Fifteen Court Square, Suite 320, Boston, Massachusetts 02108.

      SOFTCOVER ISBN: 978-1-56792-420-6

      E-BOOK ISBN: 978-1-56792-462-6

      LCCN 84-48803

      ILLUSTRATIONS

      Despatches

      Making Ship’s Papers

      The Start of the Voyage

      Feeling Their Way In

      The Camp Fire

      Pearl Diving

      “It’s a Shark!”

      Roger on Guard

      Unseen Enemy

      Carrying Up the Puncheon

      Leading Lights

      The Serpent

      Loading Firewood

      Captain John Backwatered

      The Lighthouse Tree

      The Enemy’s Boathouse

      Night Sailing

      “Do You Surrender?”

      “Go It, Nancy!”

      There Was a Bang

      Captain Flint Walks the Plank

      “We’ve Found It!”

      Wind, Rain and Lightning

      Farewell!

      MAPS

      General Map

      Wild Cat Island

      AUTHOR’S NOTE

      I have often been asked how I came to write Swallows and Amazons. The answer is that it had its beginning long, long ago when, as children, my brother, my sisters and I spent most of our holidays on a farm at the south end of Coniston. We played in or on the lake or on the hills above it, finding friends in the farmers and shepherds and charcoal-burners whose smoke rose from the coppice woods along the shore. We adored the place. Coming to it, we used to run down to the lake, dip our hands in and wish, as if we had just seen the new moon. Going away from it, we were half drowned in tears. While away from it, as children and as grown-ups, we dreamt about it. No matter where I was, wandering about the world, I used at night to look for the North Star and, in my mind’s eye, could see the beloved skyline of great hills beneath it. Swallows and Amazons grew out of those old memories. I could not help writing it. It almost wrote itself.

      A.R.

      Haverthwaite

      May 19th, 1958

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       By the same Author

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Illustrations

       Author’s Notes

       Maps

       CHAPTER I: THE PEAK IN DARIEN

       CHAPTER II: MAKING READY