2 THE SEA. 



the world. M. Yerue tells us inferentially, at all events that it can be made 

 in eighty days, while Puck, as we know, speaks of putting- a "girdle round the earth 

 in forty minutes." But this statement of the popular French author, like many 

 others put forth in his graphic and picturesque works, must be taken cum grano 

 sails. It could be, undoubtedly, but it is very questionable whether any one has 

 yet accomplished the feat. Could one ensure the absolute " connection," as it is tech- 

 nically termed, of all the steamship lines which would have to be employed it might be 

 done; or better, one vessel with grand steaming and sailing qualities might perform the 

 te Voyage Round the World " in the given time. But M. Jules Verne, it will be remembered, 

 paints his hero as lauding at various points, and as performing acts of bravery and 

 chivalry en route, such as the episode of rescuing a Hindoo widow from the Suttee; 

 finding time to lounge and drink in San Francisco " saloons," and being attacked by 

 Indians, who would wreck the overland train; and still, with all delays, he is able to reach 

 London in time to win his wager. The very idea of describing a journey r.ound 

 the world as an act of eccentricity is peculiarly French. The Englishman who can 

 afford to make it is especially envied by his friends, and not considered mildly mad. 

 We have before us a list of books of travel, all published within the last few years, 

 and in circulation at the ordinary libraries. Thirteen of these works describe voyages 

 round the world, and they are mostly the productions of amateur rather than of professiorml 

 writers. So easy, indeed, is the trip now-a-days, that two of these records are modestly 

 and deprecatingly described as " Rambles," while one of the best of them is the work of a 

 clever and enthusiastic lady,* whose excellent husband, in and out of Parliament, has 

 earnestly and persistently studied " poor Jack's " best interests. This lady is evidently no 

 fresh-water sailor, and would put to shame the land-lubber described in a very old 



song : 



" A tar, all pitch, did loudly bawl, sir, 



' All hands aloft ! ' ' Sweet sir, not I. 

 Though drowning I don't fear at all, sir, 

 I hate a rope exceedingly.' "f 



Another work, by a young lady in her teens, is entitled, " By Land and Ocean ; or, the 

 Journals and Letters of a Young Girl who went to South Australia with a Lady, thence 

 alone to Victoria, New Zealand, Sydney, Singapore, China, Japan, and across the Continent 

 of America." Perhaps the most remarkable, however, of modern female travellers is a 

 German lady,J who left Paris with only seven and a half francs in her pocket, and yet managed 

 to go round the entire globe. It must be admitted that she had many friends abroad who 

 helped her, and passed her on to others who could and did assist her in every way. Still, 

 the voyages and travels she made denote the possession of a goodly amount of pluck. 



The item of speed is of great importance, and may well be considered in connection 

 with a voyage round the globe. Verne's title would have been deemed the raving of a 



* Mrs. Brassey : " A Voyage in the Sunbeam.'" Her trip occupied eleven months. 



t From a rare work in the author's possession, entitled, " Songs of the Ship ; or the British Seaman's Jovial and 

 Everlasting Songster." 



J Margharita Weppner, Author of " The Xorth Star and the Southern Cross." 



