CHARLES.  “May we now steer north, and call at the Azores or Western Isles?  We shall then be half-way between Europe and America.”

MR. WILTON.  “We shall be very willing to accompany you, if you will entertain us when there.”

CHARLES.  “That might be done at a moderate expense, for they are delightful islands, with a fine climate, a spacious harbor, good anchorage, and all essentials,—­but they are subject to earthquakes; therefore it is not advisable to prolong our visit One remarkable circumstance I had almost forgotten is, that no noxious animal can exist, or is ever to be found on these islands.”

MRS. WILTON.  “The Azores are also called the Land of Falcons, because when discovered there were so many of these birds found tame on the islands.  They are 800 miles from the shores of Portugal, and belong to that kingdom.  Nature appears everywhere smiling; the plains wave with golden harvests, delicious fruits adorn the sides of the hills, and the towering summits are covered with evergreens.  But, as Charles observes, they are volcanic; and many new islands have been raised from the bottom of the sea by volcanic action.  In the year 1720 one of these phenomena took place, on approaching which next day an English captain observes:—­’We made an island of fire and smoke.  The ashes fell on our deck like hail and snow, the fire and smoke roared like thunder.’  The inhabitants of the Azores are an innocent, honest race, who prefer peace to conquest, and distinction in industry rather than in arms.”

EMMA.  “My course is now tolerably plain; but while we are so near Newfoundland, we may as well look in upon the people.  This large island shuts up the northern entrance into the Gulf of St. Lawrence; is for the most part barren and unfruitful, and covered with perpetual fogs.”

MR. BARRAUD.  “These fogs are, no doubt, produced by the currents that flow from the Antilles, and remain for a time between the great bank and the coast before they escape into the Atlantic Ocean.”

CHARLES.  “Sir, I do not understand how the currents can cause a fog.”

MR. BARRAUD.  “It is because these streams, coming from tropical regions, are warmer than the water surrounding the banks of Newfoundland, and necessarily warmer than the atmosphere, consequently they cause a vapor to arise which obscures the island with a moist and dense air.  Newfoundland was for a long time considered the inhospitable residence of fishermen; but of late it has doubled its population and industry, and the activity of the British nation has added another fine colony to the civilized world.”

MRS. WILTON.  “Newfoundland is the nearest to Great Britain of any of our North American possessions.  It is rather larger than England and Wales.  Its chief town is St. John’s.  It was discovered in 1497 by John Cabot.  The fisheries here are the chief wealth of the island, and consist principally of codfish, herrings, and salmon.  The great Bank of Newfoundland, which appears to be a solid rock, is 600 miles long, and in some places 200 broad.”