THE PHANTOM SHIP is the most notable of the three novels constructed by Marryat on an historic basis , and like its predecessor in the same category , Snarleyyow , depends largely for its interest on the element of diablerie , which is very skilfully manipulated . Here , however , the supernatural appearances are never explained away , and the ghostly agencies are introduced in the spirit of serious , if somewhat melodramatic , romance . Marryat's personal experience enabled him , with little research , to produce a life-like picture of old Dutch seamanship , and his powers in racy narrative have transformed the Vanderdecken legend into a stirring tale of terror . The plot cannot be called original , but it is more carefully worked out and , from the nature of the material at hand , more effective than most of Marryat's own . He has put life into it , moreover , by the creation of some genuine characters , designed for nobler ends than to move the machinery .
Amine , indeed , as Mr Hannay points out,"is by far his nearest approach to an Acceptable heroine."Her romantic and curiously superstitious disposition is admirably restrained by strength of will and true courage . The scenes of the Inquisition by which she meets her death are forcibly described . Philip Vanderdecken is a very respectable hero ; daring , impetuous , and moody , without being too improbably capable . The hand of destiny lends him a dignity of which he is by no means unworthy . Krantz , the faithful friend , belongs to a familiar type , but the one-eyed pilot is quite sufficiently weird for the part he has to play . For the rest we have the usual exciting adventures by sea and land ; the usual"humours,"in this case certainly not overdone . The miser Dr Poots ; the bulky Kloots , his bear , and his supercargo ; Barentz and his crazy lady-love the Vrow Katerina ; and the little Portuguese Commandant provide the reader with a variety of good-natured entertainment . It was an Act of doubtful wisdom , perhaps , to introduce a second group of spirits from the Hartz mountains , but the story of the weir-wolves is told simply , without any straining after effect .
The general success , however , is marred by certain obvious failures in detail . The attempt to produce an historic flavour by making the characters , during their calmer moments , talk in would-be old English is more amusing than culpable ; but the author's philosophy of the unseen , as expounded by Amine or Krantz , is both weak and tiresome , and his religious discourses , coloured by prejudice against the Romanists , are conventional and unconvincing . The closing scene savours of the Sunday-school .
But these faults are not obtrusive , and the novel as a whole must take a high place among its author's second-best .
The Phantom Ship appeared in The New Monthly Magazine , 1838, 1839. It is here reprinted from the first edition , in three volumes . Henry Colburn , 1839.
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