ls:JG.| EETBOrirECT. 481 



shores of America arc thrown open, and Australia has become tho 

 capital of a rising continent. How different are the circumstances 

 to a man shipwrecked at the present day in the Pacific, to what 

 they were in the time of Cook ! Since his voyage a hemisphere 

 has been added to the civilized world. 



If a person suffer much from sea-sickness, let him weigh it 

 heavily in the balance. I speak from experience : it is no trifling 

 evil, cured in a week. I-f, on the other hand, he take pleasure in 

 naval tactics, he will assuredly have full scope for his taste. But 

 it must be borne in mind, how large a proportion of the time, 

 during a long voyage, is spent on the water, as compared with tho 

 days in harbour. And what are the boasted glories of the illimit- 

 able ocean ? A tedious waste, a desert of water, as the Arabian 

 calls it. No doubt there are some delightful scenes. A moonlight 

 night, with the clear heavens and the dark glittering sea, and the 

 white sails filled by the soft air of a gently blowing trade-wind, 

 a dead calm, with the heaving surface polished like a mirror, and 

 all still except the occasional flapping of the canvas. It is well 

 once to behold a squall with its rising arch and coming fury, or 

 the heavy gale of wind and mountainous waves. I confess, how- 

 ever, my imagination had painted something more grand, more 

 terrific in the full-grown storm. It is an incomparably finer 

 spectacle when beheld on shore, where the waving trees, the wild 

 flight of the birds, tho dark shadows and bright lights, the rushing 

 of the torrents, all proclaim the strife of the unloosed elements. 

 At sea the albatross and little petrel fly as if the storm were their 

 proper sphere, the water rises and sinks as if fulfilling its usual 

 task, the ship alone and its inhabitants seem the objects of wrath. 

 On a forlorn and weather-beaten coast, the scene is indeed different, 

 but the feelings partake more of horror than of wild delight. 



Let us now look at the brighter side of the past time. The 

 pleasure derived from beholding the scenery and the general 

 aspect of the varioiis countries we have visited, has decidedly been 

 the most constant and highest source of enjoyment. It is probable 

 that the picturesque beauty of many parts of Europe exceeds 

 anything which we beheld. But there is a growing pleasure in 

 comparing the character of the scenery in different countries, 

 which to a certain degree is distinct from merely admiring its 

 beauty. It depends chiefly on an acquaintance with the individual 

 parts of each view: I am strongly induced to believe that as in 



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