closer to the shore, with their various builds, sizes, costume and characteristics of their crews, and the variety of employments in which the latter were engaged,—infused such a spirit of animation into the scene, that the stranger would have found it impossible to have looked on without an earnest and delighted attention. Nearer the shore boats were passing to and fro—from the graceful Swan (1.) and rapid Fish, full of gay parties of pleasure, to the gigantic Hippopotamus and slow Tortoise, bearing burthens of various kinds of produce towards the wharfs that lined each side of that noble river; and many other boats of different dimensions, some impelled by oars, others by sails, and others by machinery, were passing from ship to ship, from the ship to the shore, or from the metropolis to the neighbouring villages.

If the appearances on the water were gratifying to the eye, those on the land assumed a character equally cheerful, various, and magnificent. Well might Columbus be styled The City of the World. In its dimensions, in its splendour, in its riches, in the myriads of its inhabitants, and in the multitudes of strangers who flocked from all parts of the globe to witness its greatness or share in its traffic, it was worthy of being considered an empire rather than a metropolis. Beyond those unrivalled quays that stretched along each side of the river, connected by colossal bridges, whose arches spanned from shore to shore with such an altitude that under them the largest vessels might pass with ease, were seen the proud palaces of the merchants—the lofty domes for the administration of justice—the stupendous edifices for the conveniences of commerce—the vast temples for the worship of the Deity—the imposing halls for the diffusion of science—every description of dwelling suitable to the wants of a free, industrious, enlightened, and multitudinous population of various ranks, interspersed with noble monuments in commemoration of admirable actions—exalted statues personifying the highest degree of excellence—parks, fountains, gardens, and public walks between rows of lofty trees; rising above these, on the elevated land on which the city was erected, might be observed, placed at considerable distances from each other, and adorned with all the graces of architecture, the villas of the wealthy; and at the very crown of the hill the obelisks, urns, and other monuments that peered above its summit pointed out the cemetery of the city, and the mausolea of its dead.

Through the numerous streets the tide of population seemed hurrying with an anxious eagerness; and the vehicles of luxury and of industry were passing each other in the broad thoroughfares, in a similar crowd and with a similar haste. Here came the votary of pleasure, seeking only the enjoyment of the present—there went the accumulator of wealth, enjoying no delight save in the prospect of the future; and they were passed by the plodding antiquary, living only in his associations with the past. The toil-worn mechanic—the enthusiastic student—the venerable sage—the solemn priest—the proud soldier—and the bustling citizen, took their separate ways through the crowd, with an apparent thoughtlessness of all things except their own immediate objects; and thus had they gone on for ages, each pursuing his own course, and every one heedless of the rest; and thus will they go on till the day of the world is over, and the night cometh when no man shall see because of the darkness.

At the foot of a flight of broad stone steps leading to the water from a wharf on the quay near one of the bridges, a superior sort of ship’s boat was moored, where her crew, some resting on the benches, some lounging on the steps, were grouped in conversation, evidently directing their attention to a beautiful ship of small tonnage but perfect symmetry that lay at anchor at a short distance, easily distinguished from the numerous vessels in her neighbourhood by the smartness of her rigging and the elegance of her build.

“Ay, ay, Boggle!” exclaimed a stout weatherbeaten-looking mariner, to whom all his associates appeared to listen with great deference, arising either from his superior age or station,—“she is a smart boat; as neat a one as ever floated. She’ll swim better than a shark, and faster than a dolphin; and I’ll wager a month’s pay to a mouldy biscuit, that between this and the tother side o’ the world we shan’t meet with her match.”

“True enough, Hearty,” said the person spoken to, a lumbering, stout, short, and awkwardly-made man of about thirty, with a large head, and a stupid yet good-natured countenance, which expressed an inclination to act in the right way that was always marred by an extraordinary aptitude to do wrong. “True enough. May I walk the deck till I split into shivers, if I’m not convinced of every word you say! But every man as is a man and thinks like a man should have a notion of his own on things in general; therefore, Hearty, I don’t believe it.”

“Pooh!” exclaimed a younger sailor, addressing himself to the last speaker, “what’s the value o’ your judgment against the notions of such an old hand as Hearty? Why he must ha’ sailed in a power o’ different crafts afore you were launched!”

“Exactly, Climberkin, exactly,” replied Boggle eagerly—“that’s my opinion; it’s true, there’s not a doubt of it: but every man as is a man——”

“Well, may I be scrunched into everlasting smash if I know where we’re bound—that’s all,” emphatically remarked another speaker in the group, thrusting forward a thick head of sandy hair, with a countenance sharp and meagre.

“Nor I,” said another.

“Nor I,” echoed several around him.

“Why you see how it is,” answered Boggle, mysteriously; “there’s a sort o’ a secret in it. It arn’t for a fellow afore the mast to be ’quisitive o’ what’s going on on the quarter-deck; but I likes to have right notions o’ things in general, as every man as is a man and thinks like a man should. So having a pretty shrewd guess as how Scrumpydike, who’s al’ays alongside the captain, knowed more o’ the matter than he’d a mind to ’municate, I follows in his wake not a hundred years longer than this very mornin’; and, quite palavering like, I hails him wi’ ‘I say, Scrumpydike, my bo!’ ‘What cheer?’ says he. ‘P’raps you don’t know nothin’ o’ our sailing orders?’ says I, quite social. ‘P’raps I do,’ says he, in a manner as showed he did. I says nothin’ more on that subject then, cause I had a notion ’twould be no good; so I speaks him civil, and axed him to liquidate wi’ me upon summat comfortable, and we went together into a snuggish sort o’ a spiritual close by, and when I got him pretty ’municative I thought he’d a told the most secret thing as he knowed, cause he was letting down the cable in reg’lar style. Now’s the time, thought I; so I says to him, quite familiar, as I felt sartain sure o’ his telling, ‘Scrumpydike, my bo!’ says I, ‘where be we bound?’—And what d’ye think he said?” inquired the speaker, suddenly addressing himself to his associates.

“What did he say, Boggle?” anxiously inquired a young sailor, pressing forward to hear the interesting communication.

“Tell us, Boggle, tell us!” cried the others eagerly.

“Why he turns round upon me his great yellow