that this direction of my faculties and energies
has been ordained by a wise and benevolent Providence, as a source of
consolation under an affliction which closes upon me all the delights
and charms of the visible world. The constant occupation of the mind,
and the continual excitement of mental and bodily action, contribute
to diminish, if not to overcome, the sense of deprivation which must
otherwise have pressed upon me; while the gratification of this
passion scarcely leaves leisure for despondency, at the same time that
it supplies me with inexhaustible means of enjoyment. When I entered
the naval service I felt an irresistible impulse to become acquainted
with as many parts of the world as my professional avocations would
permit, and I was determined not to rest satisfied until I had
completed the circumnavigation of the globe. But at the early age of
twenty-five, while these resolves were strong, and the enthusiasm of
youth was fresh and sanguine, my present affliction came upon me. It
is impossible to describe the state of my mind at the prospect of
losing my sight, and of being, as I then supposed, deprived by that
misfortune of the power of indulging in my cherished project. Even the
suspense which I suffered, during the period when my medical friends
were uncertain of the issue, appeared to me a greater misery than the
final knowledge of the calamity itself. At last I entreated them to be
explicit, and to let me know the worst, as that could be more easily
endured than the agonies of doubt. Their answer, instead of increasing
my uneasiness, dispelled it. I felt a comparative relief in being no
longer deceived by false hopes; and the certainty that my case was
beyond remedy determined me to seek, in some pursuit adapted to my new
state of existence, a congenial field of employment and consolation.
At that time my health was so delicate, and my nerves so depressed by
previous anxiety, that I did not suffer myself to indulge in the
expectation that I should ever be able to travel out of my own country
alone; but the return of strength and vigour, and the concentration of
my views upon one object, gradually brought back my old passion, which
at length became as firmly established as it was before. The
elasticity of my original feelings being thus restored, I ventured,
alone and sightless, upon my dangerous and novel course; and I cannot
look back upon the scenes through which I have passed, the great
variety of c