“You present to my view,” said Bill, “only the dark side of the picture. Think, on the contrary, of the brave, stout ship, with all its gaudy streamers flying from each spiring mast, all its snow-white canvass bellying on the tall spars, the fresh breeze blowing us on our course, and the bright and boundless sea smiling, and shining, and rolling around the bow. Then think of the visit to the green islands of the Bermudas and Madeira, and all the fruit-bearing isles of the West Indies. Think of the glorious gallop among the mountains and plantations of Cuba. There the loveliest fruits grow as plentifully as the apples in our orchard, and you have only the trouble to help yourself to the plantain, the banana, the pine-apple, the orange, and the melon. Think of the delicious groves of palm and lemon that cover the land, filled with numberless birds of the richest plumage. Then also what famous shores may we not visit in our voyagings. We may drop anchor at Liverpool and London, and view without cost all the wonders of those mighty cities; view the multitudes of strange faces, and elegant shops, and splendid edifices, palaces, halls, and churches--view at pleasure the Tower, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s, and all the noble parks of London. Then also we may touch at Havre, or Rochelle, or Marseilles, and take a trip to gay and lively Paris, and visit Versailles, the Tuilleries, the Boulevards, and the Palais Royal; or perhaps touch at Leghorn, and thence make a trip to the Leaning Tower of Pisa--of which we have a print in our school-room--or ride over to Florence and see the beautiful Duomo, and all the rare palaces and galleries of the Medici, of whom we read in our school history;--or perhaps sail into the glorious bay of Naples, and ascend to the very summit of Mount Vesuvius, and bring home to the good folks of our village specimens of the sulphur from the very crater of the burning mountain;--or even ride over to old Rome itself, and visit the Vatican, with all its fine pictures, and the great St. Peter’s, which is said to be bigger than all the churches of Massachusetts put together. Then also we may sail up the blue Mediterranean, and visit Sicily and Malta, and Athens, and all the isles of Greece, and cast anchor off Smyrna and Constantinople, or coast along the shores of Syria, or sail up the harbor of Alexandria and take a look at the Nile, the Desert, and the Pyramids, and get a glimpse of Mehemit Ali himself, in the midst of his wild Egyptian guards. What could you desire better than all that? And all this I can enjoy by only going to sea as a sailor. Then also I can sail across the Pacific and Indian oceans, and take a look at the wonders of Bombay, Madras, Manilla, Calcutta, and Canton, and walk the streets of Pekin itself.”