between savage and civilized man. It is the difference between a wild
and tame animal: and part of the interest in beholding a savage, is the
same which would lead every one to desire to see the lion in his
desert, the tiger tearing his prey in the jungle, or the rhinoceros
wandering over the wild plains of Africa.
Among the other most remarkable spectacles which we have beheld, may be
ranked, the Southern Cross, the cloud of Magellan, and the other
constellations of the southern hemisphere--the water-spout--the glacier
leading its blue stream of ice, overhanging the sea in a bold
precipice--a lagoon-island raised by the reef-building corals--an
active volcano--and the overwhelming effects of a violent earthquake.
These latter phenomena, perhaps, possess for me a peculiar interest,
from their intimate connection with the geological structure of the
world. The earthquake, however, must be to every one a most impressive
event: the earth, considered from our earliest childhood as the type of
solidity, has oscillated like a thin crust beneath our feet; and in
seeing the laboured works of man in a moment overthrown, we feel the
insignificance of his boasted power.
It has been said, that the love of the chase is an inherent delight in
man--a relic of an instinctive passion. If so, I am sure the pleasure
of living in the open air, with the sky for a roof and the ground for a
table, is part of the same feeling, it is the savage returning to his
wild and native habits. I always look back to our boat cruises, and my
land journeys, when through unfrequented countries, with an extreme
delight, which no scenes of civilization could have created. I do not
doubt that every traveller must remember the glowing sense of happiness
which he experienced, when he first breathed in a foreign clime, where
the civilized man had seldom or never trod.
There are several other sources of enjoyment in a long voyage, which
are of a more reasonable nature. The map of the world ceases to be a
blank; it becomes a picture full of the most varied and animated
figures. Each part assumes its proper dimensions: continents are not
looked at in the light of islands, or islands considered as mere
specks, which are, in truth, larger than many kingdoms of Europe.
Africa, or North and South America, are well-sounding names, and easily
pronounced; but it is not until having sailed for weeks along small
portions of their shores, that one is thoroughly convinced what vast
472