The World of Waters, Or, A Peaceful Progress O'er the Unpathed SeaOsborne, David, Mrs. (Fanny)
General
The World of Waters, Or, A Peaceful Progress O'er the Unpathed Sea
Osborne, David, Mrs. (Fanny)
Geography -- Juvenile literature; Voyages and travels -- Juvenile literature
MR. WILTON. "Juan Fernandez has lately been taken on lease from the
Chilian Government, by an enterprising American, who has taken
thither about 150 families of Tahitians, with the intention of
cultivating the land, rearing cattle, and so improving the port of
Cumberland Bay, that it may become the resort of whalers, and other
vessels navigating the Pacific Ocean."
CHARLES. "Oh! for the imagination of Daniel de Foe to conjure up the
delightful pictures of his Robinson Crusoe. The poet Cowper has done
much towards handing the event down to posterity, in his touching
account of the feelings of the poor outcast when he found himself on
the desolate shore."
GEORGE. "Oh! you mean Alexander Selkirk's soliloquy. I think I can
remember some of the verses:--
"' I am out of humanity's reach,
I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech,
I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam over the plain
My form with indifference bee;
They're so unaccustomed to man,
Their tameness is shocking to me.'
"'Religion I what treasure untold
Resides in that heavenly word!
More precious than silver or gold,
Or all that this earth can afford;
But the sound of the church-going bell,
These valleys and rocks never heard,
Ne'er sigh'd at the sound of a knell,
Or smil'd when a sabbath appear'd."
"'Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore,
Some cordial, endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more.
My friends--do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?
Oh! tell me I yet have a friend,
Though a friend I am never to see!'"
EMMA. "A life of solitude must be very dreadful: we cannot conceive
such an existence while surrounded by our dear friends, and all the
luxuries of civilized life. How long was Alexander Selkirk on the
island?"
CHARLES. "Four years and four months, I believe."
DORA. "In sailing along the coast of Peru we must pass close to
Lima, its capital, which is a magnificent city. Like other Spanish
cities of America it is laid out in quadras or squares of houses,
and through the centre of nearly all the streets runs a stream of
water three feet wide, which carries away a good portion of the
refuse of the city."
MR. BARRAUD. "The ladies of Lima are celebrated for beauty and
fineness of figure. They wear a very remarkable walking dress,
peculiar to this city and Truxillo. It consists of two parts, one
called the _saya_, the other the _manto_. The first is an elastic
dress, fitting close to the figure down to the ankles; the other is
an entire envelope, disclosing scarcely more than one eye to the
most scrutinizing observer. A rich colored handkerchief or a silk
band and tassel are frequently tied around the waist, and hang
nearly to the ground in front."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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