The Batavia expedition: Australian divers uncover a grim tale of shipwreck, mutiny and massacre.

    In this collection of his photographs -- at once straightforward and subtle -- Ralston has captured every aspect of Maine's coastal culture.

    

    

    Dutton recounts the terror of ships meeting and passing in the fog and the subtleties of handling ships at the docks. Serving under many captains on a dozen and a half vessels, he spices his account with profiles of ships' officers and crew and with details of deckhand work. Life on the Great Lakes provides a concentration of information that otherwise would need to be assembled in fragments from a hundred sources. Historians, folklore buffs, and ship lovers will discover details of vessel operation usually available only in the dialogue of a passing generation of very elderly sailors.