The Traditional Ballad Index lists only the Doerflinger version, and gives a cross-reference to "Dixie Brown." Here are the entries:

Sailor's Way, The

DESCRIPTION: The sailor tells of all the places he's been and seen: "I've sailed among the Yankees, the Spaniards and Chinese.... But I'll go to the dance hall and hear the music play, For around Cape Horn and home again, oh, that is the sailor's way!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1936
KEYWORDS: sailor dancing rambling
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Doerflinger, p. 109, "The Sailor's Way" (1 text, reference for tune)
Roud #8239
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Dixie Brown" [Laws D7] (tune)
File: Doe109

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Dixie Brown [Laws D7]

DESCRIPTION: Arriving in (San Francisco), a sailor goes on a spree and ends up broke. He is taken in by [Dixie] Brown, who alleges he owes a score and uses that as a lever to force him back to sea. The sailor warns others to avoid the sea and this sort of trap
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1923
KEYWORDS: sailor poverty robbery shanghaiing
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Laws D7, "Dixie Brown"
Doerflinger, pp. 107-109, "Off to Sea Once More" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Lomax-ABFS, pp. 494-496, "Jack Wrack" (1 text, 1 tune)
Scott-BoA, pp. 140-141, "Off to Sea Once More" (1 text, 1 tune)
DT 702, GOTOSEA
Roud #644
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Sailor's Way" (tune)
cf. "Gold Watch" [Laws K41] (plot)
cf. "The Shirt and the Apron" [Laws K42] (plot)
cf. "Maggie May" (plot)
cf. "Can't You Dance the Polka (New York Girls)" (plot)
cf. "The Poor Chronic Man" (plot)
cf. "The Winnipeg Whore" (plot)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Ben Breezer
Go to Sea Once More
Notes: Dixie "Shanghai" Brown was a particularly notorious San Francisco boarding master, noted for not only supplying sailors for the whalers but going so far as to lure, rob, or trick sailors into his hands. Even among San Francisco boarding masters (who in this period were little better than slavers), he stood out as a particularly bad seed.
It should be noted that many versions of this song do not mention San Francisco or Brown; they simply tell of how a sailor arrived in port (often Liverpool), got drunk, spent all his money, and had to return to sea. The line "(he must) go to sea once more," however, seems highly characteristic. - RBW
There was an equally notorious Liverpool boarding master called "Rapper" Brown, whose name is often found in British versions of this song. - PJS
File: LD07

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The Ballad Index Copyright 2004 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.