GEORGE. "Oh! you mean Alexander Selkirk's soliloquy. I think I can remember some of the verses:—

"' I am out of humanity's reach,
I must finish my journey alone,
Never hear the sweet music of speech,
I start at the sound of my own.
The beasts that roam over the plain
My form with indifference bee;
They're so unaccustomed to man,
Their tameness is shocking to me.'
"'Religion I what treasure untold
Resides in that heavenly word!
More precious than silver or gold,
Or all that this earth can afford;
But the sound of the church-going bell,
These valleys and rocks never heard,
Ne'er sigh'd at the sound of a knell,
Or smil'd when a sabbath appear'd."
"'Ye winds, that have made me your sport,
Convey to this desolate shore,
Some cordial, endearing report
Of a land I shall visit no more.
My friends—do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?
Oh! tell me I yet have a friend,
Though a friend I am never to see!'"

EMMA. "A life of solitude must be very dreadful: we cannot conceive such an existence while surrounded by our dear friends, and all the luxuries of civilized life. How long was Alexander Selkirk on the island?"

CHARLES. "Four years and four months, I believe."

DORA. "In sailing along the coast of Peru we must pass close to Lima, its capital, which is a magnificent city. Like other Spanish cities of America it is laid out in quadras or squares of houses, and through the centre of nearly all the streets runs a stream of water three feet wide, which carries away a good portion of the refuse of the city."

MR. BARRAUD. "The ladies of Lima are celebrated for beauty and fineness of figure. They wear a very remarkable walking dress, peculiar to this city and Truxillo. It consists of two parts, one called the saya, the other the manto. The first is an elastic dress, fitting close to the figure down to the ankles; the other is an entire envelope, disclosing scarcely more than one eye to the most scrutinizing observer. A rich colored handkerchief or a silk band and tassel are frequently tied around the waist, and hang nearly to the ground in front."

MRS. WILTON. "The population of Peru consists principally of Indians, Spaniards and Negroes. The first are represented by travellers as in the lowest stage of civilization, without any desire for the comforts of civilized life, immersed in sloth and apathy, from which they can rarely be roused, except when they have an opportunity of indulging to excess in ardent spirits, of which they are excessively fond. They are dirty in the extreme, seldom taking off their clothes even to sleep, and still more rarely using water. Their habitations are miserable hovels, destitute of every convenience and disgustingly filthy."

MR. WILTON. "The Peruvians had at one time a curious contrivance for crossing their rivers. They did not know how to make a bridge of wood or stone; but necessity, the parent of invention, supplied that defect. They formed cables of great strength, by twisting together some of the pliable withes or osiers with which their country abounds; six of these cables they stretched across the stream parallel to one another, and made them fast on each side; these they bound firmly together, by inter-weaving smaller ropes so close as to form a compact piece of net-work, which being covered with branches of trees and earth, they passed along it with tolerable security. Proper persons were appointed to attend to each bridge, to keep it in repair, and to assist passengers."

GEORGE. "Almost as clever a contrivance as the bridge of the present day, although neither so strong nor durable. They were a persevering people."

EMMA. "The Gulf of Guayaquil is so called from a river of this name which is famous for its shifting sand-banks, on which as the water recedes alligators are left in great numbers. The Bay of Choco is on the same coast (Columbia), and is the scene of continual storms. The greatest riches in washed gold are deposited in the provinces of Choco. The largest piece found there weighed twenty-five pounds; but this country, so rich in gold, is at the same time scourged with continual famine."