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so increased that he had taken to his hammock, and only breathed a wish that he might see his wife before he died. He had been helped on deck as we came up the river, and 210 was now leaning against the shrouds, with a countenance so wasted, so pale, so ghastly, that it was no wonder even the But at the sound eye of affection did not recognize him. of his voice her eye darted on his features; it read, at once, a whole volume of sorrow; she clasped her hands, uttered a faint 215 shriek, and stood wringing them in silent agony.

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All now was hurry and bustle, — the meetings of acquaintances, the greetings of friends, the consultations of men of business. I alone was solitary and idle. I had no friend to meet, no cheering to receive. I stepped upon the land of 220 my forefathers, but felt that I was a stranger in the land.

SUGGESTIONS OF TOPICS OF INQUIRY.

What is the gulf that a voyage interposes between us and our homes? What words describe it?

"Whither he may be driven " (line 34). Why is whither better than where? Which of them means to what place? Which of them means at or in what place?

"I said that at sea all is vacancy" (line 38). Quote any previous passage containing this idea.

What were some of the amusements of the voyage? Day-dreaming? Looking down "on the monsters of the deep at their uncouth gambols"? Watching a distant sail? Contemplating the object seen at a distance, the mast of a wrecked ship? Story-telling? Any other?

"Expectation, anxiety, dread, despair" (lines 93, 94). Which expresses the strongest feeling? How are the words arranged? Define a climax.

What "has brought the ends of the earth into communion"? How? Narrate in your own words the captain's story. Point out the most pathetic expressions in it.

What does Irving say of the ship during the storm?

Explain "how she seems to lord it over the deep!" Contrast that with the description of her course during the storm.

What were objects of interest as the ship approached the shore?

At what point did they land?

Describe the crowd on the pier.

Who was the most important person there?

What pathetic incident is told?

THE SKETCH-BOOK.

THE VOYAGE.

"Ships, ships, I will descrie you

Amidst the main,

I will come and try you,

What you are protecting,

And projecting,

What's your end and aim.

One goes abroad for merchandise and trading,

Another stays to keep his country from invading,

A third is coming home with rich and wealthy lading.
Halloo! my fancie, whither wilt thou go?"

Old Poem.

5

To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to make is an excellent preparative. The temporary absence of worldly scenes and employments produces a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive new and vivid impressions. The vast space of waters that separates the hemispheres is like a blank page in existence. There is no gradual transition by which, as in Europe, the features and population of one country blend almost imperceptibly with those of another. From the moment you lose sight of the land you have left, all is vacancy until you step on the opposite shore, and are 10 launched at once into the bustle and novelties of another world.

In travelling by land there is a continuity of scene, and a connected succession of persons and incidents that carry on

Line 1. Voyage (Fr. voyager, to travel; voyage, a journey; Lat. via, a way), formerly a passage, journey, or travel by sea or by land; hence Irving says a wide sea voyage. It is now limited to travel by sea.

2. Preparative, that which prepares; a preparation.

5. Hemispheres. What meridian is the boundary line between the eastern and western hemispheres? See the atlases.

Sometimes a distant sail, gliding along the edge of the ocean, would be another theme of idle speculation. How interesting this fragment of a world, hastening to rejoin the great mass of existence! What a glorious monument of human invention, 65 which has in a manner triumphed over wind and wave; has brought the ends of the world into communion; has established an interchange of blessings, pouring into the sterile regions of the north all the luxuries of the south; has diffused the light of knowledge and the charities of cultivated life; and 70 has thus bound together those scattered portions of the human race, between which nature seemed to have thrown an insurmountable barrier.

We one day descried some shapeless object drifting at a distance. At sea, everything that breaks the monotony of the 75 surrounding expanse attracts attention. It proved to be the mast of a ship that must have been completely wrecked; for there were the remains of handkerchiefs, by which some of the crew had fastened themselves to this spar, to prevent their being washed off by the waves. There was no trace by 80 which the name of the ship could be ascertained. The wreck had evidently drifted about for many months; clusters of shellfish had fastened about it, and long sea-weeds flaunted at its sides. But where, thought I, is the crew? Their struggle has long been over, - they have gone down amidst the roar of 85 the tempest, their bones lie whitening among the caverns of the deep. Silence, oblivion, like the waves, have closed over them, and no one can tell the story of their end. What

74. Descried ("To make an outcry on discovering something for which one is on the watch; then simply to discover." Wedgwood), discerned at a distance. Notice the old spelling of this word and of fancy, in the stanza at the beginning of the sketch.

75. Monotony (Gr. μóvos, single; Tóvos, note, tone), sameness, want of variety.

76. Expanse (Lat. ex, out; pansum, opened, spread), a surface widely outspread.

79. Spar. In nautical phrase, a long beam, a mast, yard, boom.

83. Flaunted. To flaunt is properly to wave to and fro in the wind, to move about in a showy manner so as to be seen like a banner in the wind.

sighs have been wafted after that ship! what prayers offered up at the deserted fireside of home! How often has the mis- 90 tress, the wife, the mother, pored over the daily news, to catch some casual intelligence of this rover of the deep! How has expectation darkened into anxiety, anxiety into dread, -and dread into despair! Alas! not one memento may ever return for love to cherish. All that may ever be known is 95 that she sailed from her port, " and was never heard of more!" The sight of this wreck, as usual, gave rise to many dismal anecdotes. This was particularly the case in the evening, when the weather, which had hitherto been fair, began to look wild and threatening, and gave indications of one of those sudden 100 storms which will sometimes break in upon the serenity of a summer voyage. As we sat round the dull light of a lamp in the cabin, that made the gloom more ghastly, every one had his tale of shipwreck and disaster. I was particularly struck with a short one related by the captain.

105

"As I was once sailing," said he, "in a fine stout ship across the banks of Newfoundland, one of those heavy fogs which prevail in those parts rendered it impossible for us to see far ahead even in the daytime; but at night the weather was so thick that we could not distinguish any object at twice the no length of the ship. I kept lights at the mast-head, and a constant watch forward to look out for fishing-smacks, which are accustomed to lie at anchor on the banks. The wind was blowing a smacking breeze, and we were going at a great rate through the water. Suddenly the watch gave the alarm of 'A sail ahead!'—it was scarcely uttered before we were

91. Pored. To pore is to look close and long, to read or examine with steady or continued attention.

107. Banks of Newfoundland. These banks form one of the most extensive submarine elevations on the globe. They are between 600 and 700 miles in length, with a depth of water varying from 10 to 160 fathoms. The famous Grand Bank swarms with cod and almost every other variety of fish.

112. Fishing-smacks; small vessels, usually sloop-rigged, used in the fisheries.

114. Smacking, making a sharp, lively sound.

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