602 



CONCLUSION. 



Oct. 1836. 



in a foreign clime ; and then most assuredly his own satis- 

 faction will one day w^ell repay him. 



Our voyage having come to an end^ I will take a short re- 

 trospect of the advantages and disadvantage the pains and 

 pleasures, of our five years^ wandering. If a person should 

 ask my advice, before undertaking a long voyage, my answer 

 would depend upon his possessing a decided taste for some 

 branch of knowledge, which could by such means be im- 

 proved. No doubt it is a high satisfaction to behold various 

 countries, and the many races of mankind, but the pleasures 

 gained at the time do not counterbalance the evils. It is 

 necessary to look forward to a harvest, however distant it 

 may be, when some fruit will be reaped, some good effected. 



Many of the losses which must be experienced are obvious ; 

 such as that of the society of all old friends, and of the 

 sight of those places, with which every dearest remembrance 

 is so intimately connected. These losses, however, are at the 

 time partly relieved by the exhaustless delight of anticipating 

 the long wished-for day of return. If, as poets say, life is a 

 dream, I am sure in a voyage these are the visions which serve 

 best to pass away the long night. Other losses, although not 

 at first felt, tell heavily after a period ; these are, the want of 

 room, of seclusion, of rest ; — the jading feeling of constant 

 hurry; — the privation of small luxuries, the comforts of 

 civilization and domestic society, and, lastly, even of music 

 and the other pleasures of imagination. When such trifles 

 are mentioned, it is evident that the real grievances (ex- 

 cepting from accidents) of a sea life are at an end. The 

 short space of sixty years has made an astonishing difference 

 in the facility of distant navigation. Even in the time of 

 Cook, a man who left his comfortable fireside for such 

 expeditions, underwent severe privations. A yacht now with 

 every luxury of life might circumnavigate the globe. Besides 

 the vast improvements in ships and naval resources, the 

 whole western shores of America are thrown open, and 



