“The voyage begins as the Western Flyer leaves the sheltered waters of Monterey Bay and enters the open sea. The boat is greeted by a flock of pelicans and a sea lion who looks like the old man of the sea himself; aboard ship, ‘the forward guy-wire of our mast began to sing under the wind, a deep and penetrating tone.'”

“The voyage ends as they leave the Gulf of California, at which time
‘a crazy literary thing happened. As we came opposite the Point there was one great clap of thunder, and immediately we hit the great swells of the Pacific and the wind freshened against us. The water took on a gray tone.'”

“And the last words in the book: ‘The big guy-wire from bow to mast took up its vibration like the low pipe on a tremendous organ. It sang its deep note into the wind.’ These accents mark the limits of a mythic voyage, in quest of new knowledge, to an unknown sea.”