One evening, as Captain Perry was sitting by the fireside at his home in Liverpool, his children asked him to tell them a story.
"What shall it be about?" said the captain.
"O," said Harry, "tell us about other countries, and the curious people you have seen in them."
"Yes, yes!" exclaimed Mary. "We were much interested, while you were away the last time, in reading 'Gulliver's Travels' and 'Sindbad the Sailor.'"
"You have seen as wonderful things as they did, haven't you, father?" said Harry.
"No, my dears," said the captain. "I never met such wonderful people as they tell about, I assure you; nor have I seen the 'Black Loadstone Mountain' or the 'Valley of Diamonds.'"
"But," said Mary, "you have seen a great many people, and their different manners and ways of living."
"Yes," said the captain, "and if it will interest you, I will tell you some of the curious things that I have observed."
"Pray, do so!" cried Harry, as both the children drew close to him.