MRS. WILTON.  “Oh! horrible!  Let us quit this savage Point, and see what Point Barrow resembles.”

Mr. WILTON.  “It is a long spit of land composed of sand and gravel.  When Captain Simpson was on an exploring expedition in the Polar Seas, he landed there, and one of the first objects that presented itself was an immense cemetery.  There, the miserable remnants of humanity lay on the ground, in the seal-skin dresses worn when alive.  A few were covered with an old sledge, or some pieces of wood, but far the greater number were exposed to the voracity of dogs and wild animals.  The inhabitants of this Point are Esquimaux.”

EMMA.  “Bhering’s Straits divide the Old from the New Continent, and the water to the south beyond the Gulf of Anadir is called Bhering’s or Kamtschatka Sea, and washes the shores of Kamtschatka.”

MRS. WILTON.  “Kamtschatka is a portion of Asia, about the same size as Great Britain.  It is a cold, foggy country, and subject to sudden storms of snow and sleet, which the natives call ‘poorgas,’ and when overtaken by one they do not attempt to travel through it, but suffer the snow to bury them and their dogs, and as soon as it is over, they extricate themselves as well as they can.  The natives comprising the two tribes of the Kamtschatdales and Koriaks differ principally in their mode of life.  They are all of low stature, and not remarkable for their beauty.  They are shy, averse to strangers, but honest, and extremely hospitable.  They dwell in fixed habitations, although hunters and fishers; but their dwellings are low, comfortless, and filthy, sunk in the ground in the winter months, and raised on posts during summer to facilitate the curing of fish, which are hung up on lines to dry.  In travelling, they use dogs harnessed to a sledge instead of horses.”

DORA.  “We are now to leave the coasts, and sail about in search of the islands in the Pacific Ocean; and, as we happen to be above the equator, we can more conveniently see those of the North Pacific.  We have each selected our favorite isles for description, and Charles is at the head of the catalogue.”

MRS. WILTON.  “To make our remarks better understood, we will, like scientific geographers, class all these islands under the head of Polynesia, for the term is applied to the numerous groups, both above and below the equator, in the Pacific Ocean.  The equator forming a dividing line between North and South Polynesia.  Sir Francis Drake was the first English captain to whom appertained the honor of sailing on the Pacific Ocean.

  “’The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
    The furrow followed free;
  He was the first that ever burst
    Into that silent sea.’"[16]

[Footnote 16:  Coleridge]