Nature and Human Nature

When I took leave of the family I returned to the room where I had left Peter and the doctor, but they had both retired. And as my chamber adjoined it, I sat by the fire, lighte...

“Here is a place under the lee bow,” said the pilot, “in which there are sure to be some coasters, among whom the mate may find a market for his wares, and make a good exchange...

“Doctor,” said I, “I wish I had had more time to have examined your collection of minerals. I had no idea Nova Scotia could boast of such an infinite variety of them. You could...

The room in which we breakfasted was about eighteen feet square, having a large old-fashioned fire-place opposite to the front door, which opened directly on the lawn. The walls...

From Halifax to Cumberland, Squire, the eastern coast of Nova Scotia presents more harbours fit for the entrance of men-of-war than the whole Atlantic coast of our country from...

When we reached the grove, I left Jessie in the canoe, and went up to the house in search of her sister. Jackson and Peter were sitting on the wood-pile; the latter was smoking...

“I believe, Doctor,” sais I, “we have seen all that is worth notice here, let us go into one of their houses and ascertain if there is anything for Sorrow’s larder; but, Doctor,...

“Such men as Jehu Judd,” he said, “do a monstrous deal of mischief in the country. By making the profession of piety a cloak for their knavery, they injure the cause of morality...

Soon after McDonald had returned and resumed his seat, a tall thin man, dressed in a coarse suit of homespun, entered the room, and addressing our host familiarly as Squire Pete...

“Yes,” he said, “I have seen a white, black, red, and yellow fog,” and went off into a disquisition about optics, mediums, reflections, refractions, and all sorts of scientific...

After the captain and the pilot had retired, sais I, “Miss Jessie, sposin we young folks—(ah me, it is time to get a new word, I guess, for that one has been used so long, it’s...

The wind, what there was of it, was off shore; it was a light north-wester, but after we made an offing of about ten miles, it failed us, being evidently nothing but a land bree...

After having given vent to the foregoing lockrum, I took Jehosophat Bean’s illustrated “Biography of the Eleven Hundred and Seven Illustrious American Heroes,” and turned in to...

Whoever has taken the trouble to read the “Wise Saws” of Mr Slick, will be prepared to resume the thread of his narrative without explanation, if indeed these unconnected select...

Eating is the chief occupation at sea. It’s the great topic as well as the great business of the day, especially in small sailing vessels like the “Black Hawk;” although anythin...

In compiling this Journal, Squire, my object has been less to give you the details of my cruise, than to furnish you with my remarks on men and things in general. Climate, local...

Thinks I to myself, as I overheard a person inquire of the servant at the door, in an unmistakeable voice and tone, “Is the Squire to hum?” that can be no one else than my old f...

By the time we had reached the house, Cutler joined us, and we dined off of the doctor’s salmon, which was prepared in a way that I had never seen before; and as it was a touch...

“Doctor,” sais I, as we ascended the deck the following morning, “I can’t tell you how I have enjoyed these incidental runs on shore I have had during my cruise in the ‘Black Ha...

As we approached the eastern coast, “Eldad,” sais I, to the pilot, “is there any harbour about here where our folks can do a little bit of trade, and where I can see something o...

We tried the deck again, but the fog was too disagreeable to remain there, for the water fell from the ropes in such large drops, and the planks were so wet and slippery, we soo...

“Sorrow,” said the doctor, “seems to me to consider women, from the way he flatters his mistress, as if she was not unlike the grupers at Bermuda. There is a natural fish-pond t...

Early the following morning, just as the first dawn of day was streaking the eastern sky, Jackson’s bugle sounded the _reveillé,_ and we were all soon on foot and in motion. The...

I had hardly entered these remarks in my Journal, and ascended the companion-ladder, when the doctor joined me in my quarter-deck walk, and said, “Mr Slick, what is your opinion...

Peter’s horrid pipes knocked all the romance out of me. It took all the talk of dear old Minister (whose conversation was often like poetry without rhyme), till I was of age, to...