The Boy Tar

In Short

The Boy Tar is an unusual maritime survival novel that swaps the open seas for the pitch-black interior of a merchant ship. When young Philip Forster stows away inside the hold of a vessel bound for Peru, late-arriving freight buries him under tons of cargo. Armed with little more than a pocketknife, a nearby water cask, and his own wits, Philip faces a months-long subterranean ordeal against starvation, dark claustrophobia, and aggressive rats. Mayne Reid’s tale endures for its painstaking technical details, relentless problem-solving, and sheer focus on physical grit over standard high-seas melodrama.

The Story

The story opens years later as an elderly Philip Forster recounts his childhood in a seaside village. Possessing an obsessive passion for the water, young Philip regularly escapes close calls, including a near-drowning rescued by his loyal waterman friend, Harry Blew. Despite the warnings of family and friends, Philip remains determined to become a sailor. When he fails to secure a legitimate position on the merchant vessel Inca, he resolves to run away. Selling his beloved toy sloop to an opportunistic shopkeeper for a shilling's worth of crackers and cheese, he sneaks aboard the ship at the docks.

Philip conceals himself deep within the lower hold, expecting to remain hidden for just a couple of days until the ship clears port. Instead, massive amounts of last-minute freight are loaded directly over him, sealing him at the very bottom of the vessel under a mountainside of crates, barrels, and heavy machinery. As the Inca weighs anchor for a six-month voyage around South America to Peru, Philip realizes he is entombed alive in total darkness.

Initial despair gives way to practical ingenuity when he discovers a leaky water-butt and a misplaced crate of hard sea biscuits nearby. Calculating his daily rations down to the precise fraction of a biscuit, he manages his minimal resources while enduring violent seasickness during heavy Atlantic gales. However, his precarious peace collapses when hungry ship rats discover his larder, eating his remaining biscuits and leaving him with a infected thumb bite. Driven by mounting hunger, Philip adapts to his grim environment: he fashions a cloth trap to capture the vermin wholesale, eating their flesh to survive.

Realizing he must break out to reach the hatch, Philip undertakes a monumental physical task. Working entirely by touch in the dark, he uses his pocketknife to carve, chisel, and pry a crawlspace upward through the tightly packed cargo. Over several weeks, he labors through an incredible array of freight, including casks of brandy, bales of fine velvet, bolts of broadcloth, cases of ladies' bonnets, and massive wooden piano crates. He faces constant setbacks, such as his knife breaking, running out of room to stack unpacked fabric, and the constant threat of shifting cargo during storms.

Through sheer perseverance, Philip finally breaches the upper layer of cargo and reaches the main hatchway. Weakened and altered by his long ordeal, he is pulled from the hold by the stunned crew. Impressed by the boy's extraordinary resilience and recognizing his late father's legacy, the ship’s captain forgives the damaged freight and takes Philip on as a proper apprentice sailor. Philip works his way up the ranks over the decades to become master of his own vessel, eventually repaying all the lost cargo before retiring comfortably back to his native shore.

How It Unfolds

A passion for the water Young Philip Forster repeatedly defies his mother's warnings, spending his days learning to row and navigate the local bay under the instruction of a kind waterman named Harry Blew.

The decision to run Undeterred by a near-fatal drowning incident and afraid his small size will prevent him from being hired legitimately, Philip sells his toy sailboat for biscuits and sneaks into the hold of the Peru-bound merchant ship Inca.

Entombed beneath the cargo Stevedores pile tons of late-arriving freight into the hold, burying Philip under massive crates and cutting off all light, movement, and easy access to the deck above.

Rations and calculation Philip secures a water-butt and a broken box of sea biscuits, carefully measuring his daily consumption to stretch his food across the six-month ocean transit while surviving severe storms in the dark.

War with the vermin Rats steal his remaining biscuits and bite his hand, forcing Philip to design a custom cloth trap out of broadcloth to catch the rodents and eat them as his sole source of meat.

Tunneling through the hold Equipped only with a small knife, Philip spends weeks dismantling boxes of velvet, broadcloth, and ladies' bonnets, clearing a narrow tunnel past heavy piano cases toward the hatchway.

Escape and ascension After breaking through the final barrier, Philip emerges onto the deck; the impressed captain takes him on as a crew member, launching a lifelong maritime career that culminates in Philip commanding his own ship.

The People

• Philip Forster: A remarkably tough, small-statured boy who desperately wants to prove he can handle a life at sea. Driven by a quiet, methodical stubbornness, he faces claustrophobia, injury, and starvation inside the hold. By relying on math, planning, and manual labor rather than panicking, he survives the voyage and transforms from an oversized village child into a capable, self-reliant sea captain.
• Harry Blew: A brave and kind-hearted young local waterman who saves Philip from drowning early in the boy's life. He acts as Philip’s mentor in seamanship, patiently teaching him how to row and handle oars correctly. His steady encouragement builds Philip's physical confidence long before the boy stows away.
• The Captain of the Inca: A stern yet generous shipmaster who discovers Philip when the boy finally breaks through the cargo hatch. Rather than punishing the young stowaway for the damaged goods, he honors the memory of Philip's father, taking the boy under his wing and overseeing his proper training as a professional sailor.
• John the Cart-Driver: Philip's well-meaning guardian whose presence at the docks forces Philip to sneak home initial plans and make a more calculated escape from home rather than risk being dragged back to his uncle for a whipping.

In Its Own Voice

"I had now had my warning of the water, if that could have been of any service. But it was not, as the sequel will show."

Philip recalls how a near-fatal accident on the bay failed to cure his childhood obsession with the ocean.

"I was in a situation somewhat similar to that of Tantalus. Water I saw not, but I heard it. The hoarse rushing of the waves as they tore along the sides of the ship was plainly audible."

Trapped in the pitch-black hold without food or drink, Philip endures the mental agony of hearing seawater churn outside the hull.

"'Brave lad!' he exclaimed, rising to his feet, and going towards the door, 'you wish to be a sailor? You deserve to be a sailor; and by the memory of your noble father, whom I chanced to know, you shall be a sailor!'"

The captain of the Inca welcomes the exhausted boy to the crew after Philip finally emerges from months of confinement.

What It's Really About

At its core, The Boy Tar is an unusual study in human self-reliance, spatial problem-solving, and emotional discipline. Rather than relying on traditional naval adventures like battles or shipwrecks, the book focuses entirely on how an individual copes with prolonged isolation, dark claustrophobia, and extreme sensory deprivation. Philip’s struggle inside the hold becomes a battle of intellect over despair; he treats his crisis as a series of practical engineering problems—measuring water casks, managing bulk displacement of unwrapped fabrics, and designing homemade traps. Mayne Reid uses the novel to celebrate patience, basic arithmetic, and practical work ethics, suggesting that quiet perseverance under impossible conditions is the truest form of courage.

Why Read It Today

The Boy Tar offers a distinct twist on 19th-century maritime literature. Instead of grand sea battles or tropical island exploration, readers are treated to an claustrophobic, procedural survival story set almost entirely inside a dark ship's hold. It reads almost like an early precursor to modern survival stories, where every broken knife blade, squeezed space, and calculated biscuit ration carries real dramatic tension.

Modern readers will appreciate the sheer focus on practical problem-solving. Mayne Reid meticulously details the logistics of Philip's ordeal, from the math behind liquid measurements to the physical challenge of moving broadcloth and piano cases in zero light. While the prose occasionally pauses for period discussions on ship taxation laws or older maritime terminology, the narrative moves at a steady, compelling pace. It is an ideal read for fans of micro-survival tales, historical sea lore, and non-traditional adventure fiction that celebrates human grit over romantic fantasy.