Wreck of the &quote;Grosvenor&quote; (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Mr. Royle, a young second mate aboard a British Mercantile Marine vessel, copes with the cruel Captain Coxon, his callous first mate, and a mutinous crew. A beautiful young woman rescued from a shipwreck only complicate matters, both in safety and in love. This 1877 novel, boldly subtitled "An Account of the Mutiny of the Crew and the Loss of the Ship When Trying to Make the Bermudas," was Russell’s most popular--and led to reforms in conditions aboard merchant vessels.