at there was little hope of
their being planted, until the crust of the earth should be driven
upwards, so as to rise within four fathoms of the surface of the water.
On the other hand, Captain Poke held this latter improvement very cheap.
He affirmed it was no sign of civilization at all, for, as a man became
civilized, he had less need of primers and finger-boards; and, as for
Leaphigh, any tolerable navigator could see it bore S. by W. half W.
allowing for variation, distant 135 English miles. To these objections
I was silent, for I had frequent occasion to observe that men very often
underrate any advantage of which they have come into the enjoyment by a
providential interposition.

Just as the sun was in the meridian, the cry of "land ahead" was heard
from aloft. The monikins were all smiles and gratitude; the crew were
excited by admiration and wonder; and as for myself, I was literally
ready to jump out of my skin, not only with delight, but, in some
measure also, from the exceeding warmth of the atmosphere. Our cats
and dogs began to uncase; Bob was obliged to unmask his most exposed
frontier, by removing the union-jack; and Noah himself fairly appeared
on deck in his shirt and night-cap. The amiable strangers were too much
occupied to be particular, and I slipped into my state-room to change my
toilet to a dress of thin silk, that was painted to resemble the skin of
a polar bear--a contradiction between things that is much too common in
our species ever to be deemed out of fashion.

We neared the land with great rapidity, impelled by a steam-breeze, and
just as the sun sank in the horizon our anchor was let go, in the outer
harbor of the city of Aggregation.

CHAPTER XV. AN ARRIVAL--FORMS OF RECEPTION--SEVERAL NEW CHRISTENINGS--AN
OFFICIAL DOCUMENT, AND TERRA FIRMA.

It is always agreeable to arrive safe, at the end of a long, fatiguing,
and hazardous journey. But the pleasure is considerably augmented when
the visit is paid to a novel region, with a steam-climate, and which is
peopled by a new species. My own satisfaction, too was coupled with the
reflection that I had been of real service to four very interesting and
well-bred strangers, who had been cast, by an adverse fortune, into the
hands of humanity, and who owed to me a boon far more precious than life
itself--a restoration to their natural and acquired rights, their
proper stations in society, and sacred liberty! The reader will judge,
the