Standing in a tent show before a penny-dreadful melodrama, he feels the actor's hypnotic hold on the crowd, senses that his words too may one day sway and spellbind.
But whenever De Monfreid reaches land and begins to describe the gallery of rogues and brutes and generally weird people he claims to meet on his journeys, the book can spellbind.
The assorted facts tailored to fit these spaces spellbind Navy buffs and pros.