captain, who knew my friends, to accept the birth of surgeon, in his ship. Every new pursuit has its flattering prospects. I was encouraged by handsome wages, and a privilege in the ship, to carry an ad|venture; for the purchase of which, the owners were to advance me, on account of my pay. I was to be companion to the captain, and have a fine chance of seeing the world. To quit my home, for all parts of the union I considered as home; to tempt the perilous ocean, and encoun|ter the severities of a sea faring life, the diseases of torrid climes, and perhaps a total separation from my friends and pa|rents, was melancholy; but the desire to see the world, to acquire practical knowl|edge, in my profession, to obtain proper|ty, added to the necessity of immediate subsistance, and the horrours of a jail, de|termined me to accept his offer. I ac|cordingly entered surgeon, on board the ship Freedom, Captain Sidney Russell 0