Project Gutenberg's Famous Islands and Memorable Voyages, by Anonymous

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Title: Famous Islands and Memorable Voyages

Author: Anonymous

Release Date: June 23, 2008 [EBook #25882]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: The Castaways. (Front.)]

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FAMOUS ISLANDS
and
MEMORABLE VOYAGES.

Boston:
Published by D. Lothrop & Co.
Dover, N.H.: G. T. Day & Co.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I.-- A VENETIAN CRUISER. 9

II.-- A WINTER IN THE NORTHERN SEAS;
OR, CAPTAIN JAMES'S JOURNAL. 30

III.-- THE DISCOVERERS OF MADEIRA. 52

IV.-- ST. HELENA. 68

V.-- THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS. 87

VI.-- NORFOLK ISLAND. 118

VII.-- THE SOLITARY ISLANDER. 165

VIII.-- CAPTAIN COOK'S LAST VOYAGE. 188

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A VENETIAN CRUISER.

It was late in the year 1431. The port of Venice was filled with ships
from all parts of the world, bringing to her their choicest stores, and
their most costly merchandise, and receiving from her and from her
Grecian possessions rich shiploads of wine and spices, and bales of
finest cotton.

It would have been a sight never to have been forgotten could we have
gazed then on that city of the sea, have watched the cumbrous barks, so
unlike our light-winged merchant ships, or our swift steamers, which
sailed heavily up and down the blue Adriatic, till they came in sight of
the famous city, the resort of all nations, in whose canals, and among
whose marts and palaces, might be seen the strange dress, and heard the
mingled speech of men from all parts of the civilized world.

One ship was just leaving the port. The vessel, rather a large one for
those days, seems but poorly manned, and rock