CHARLES.  “Oh! for the imagination of Daniel de Foe to conjure up the delightful pictures of his Robinson Crusoe.  The poet Cowper has done much towards handing the event down to posterity, in his touching account of the feelings of the poor outcast when he found himself on the desolate shore.”

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.”