Excerpt from The Isles of the Pacific: Or, Sketches From the South Seas Such have been'the day-dreams of the poet in many lands. Childhood, full of unconscious poetry, revels in stories of distant island homes, island mysteries, island researches. Nothing In the Arabian Nights' attracts its eager fancy more than the story of Sindbad the Sailor, with his strange experiences of wonder-teeming isles. Robinson Crusoe will be a fearful joy to the young while the English language lasts. Sir Edward Seward's Narrative, Penrose's Journal, a delightful book, now, alas-l out of print, and Masterman Ready, all recognised and ministered to this youthful passion for island adventures, and all were popular accordingly. The present volume is an attempt to convey to young readers a fair notion of the isles of the Pacific Ocean, of their principal clusters, and of the features which distinguish several of the most remarkable among them. They differ from each other so widely in climate, natural features, social and political condition, that even a few sketches, if tolerably faithful, will at least have the advantage of variety; while they may also serve to clear up a certain amount of confusion as to groups and races which exists, I believe, in young minds generally, and is not rare among children of a larger growth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.