Captain Joshua Slocum, an experienced mariner, tells the thrilling tale of the Liberdade and the great journey it made from South America, through the Caribbean, and onto the United States. When this book first appeared in 1890, it received wide praise for authentically capturing the spirit of naval adventure and human resourcefulness. At a time when ordinary sailing boats were fast being obsoleted by faster vessels powered by steam engines, Captain Slocum's recollections are testament that sea voyages were as exciting as they ever were. The Liberdade was constructed from materials salvaged from the locality of Brazil, where Slocum was stranded at the time. The ship received its name as one day after its launch, on May 14th 1888, slavery was abolished by the Brazilian government. The fifty-five day voyage of Joshua Slocum and his family back to the United States is chronicled in this book, with the high and low points of their epic adventure mentioned.