Young Robinson Crusoe told his parents that he wished more than anything else to go to sea. His father bitterly opposed the idea, and warned his son that "if I did take this foolish step, God would not bless me - and I would have leisure hereafter to reflect upon having neglected his counsel, when there might be none to assist in my recovery." These words proved prophetic. The youthful Crusoe set out on his first voyage, with little knowledge about the perils of a sailor's life. In telling later about the tremendous storm in which his ship was caught, he remarked, "It was my advantage, in one respect, that I did not know what they