s to consider the
matter, it is surprising what a variety of events may be compressed into
five weeks; what an amount of space may be passed over, what an immense
change of scene and circumstance may be experienced in that
comparatively short period of time.

Men and women who remain quietly at home do not, perhaps, fully realise
this fact. Five weeks to them does not usually seem either very long or
very short. But let those quiet ones travel; let them rush away
headlong, by the aid of wind and steam, to the distant and wonderful
parts of this wonderful world of ours, and, ten to one, they will
afterwards tell you that the most wonderful discovery they had made
during their travels, is the fact that a miniature lifetime (apparently)
can be compressed into five weeks.

Five weeks passed away, and in the course of that time the
foretopsail-yard of the _Red Eric_ had been repaired; the _Red Eric_
herself had passed from equatorial into southern seas; Alice Dunning had
become very sea-sick, which caused her to look uncommonly green in the
face, and had got well again, which caused her to become fresh and rosy
as the early morning; Jacko had thoroughly established his reputation as
the most arrant and accomplished thief that ever went to sea: King
Bumble had been maligned and abused again and again, and over again,
despite his protestations of innocence, by grim-faced Tarquin, the
steward, for having done the deeds which were afterwards discovered to
have been committed by Jacko; fat little Gurney had sung innumerable
songs of his own composing, in which he was ably supported by Glynn
Proctor; Dr Hopley had examined, phrenologically, all the heads on
board, with the exception of that of Tarquin, who would not submit to
the operation on any account, and had shot, and skinned, and stuffed a
variety of curious sea-birds, and caught a number of remarkable
sea-fish, and had microscopically examined--to the immense interest of
Ailie, and consequently of the captain--a great many surprising
animalcules, called _Medusae_, which possessed the most watery and the
thinnest possible bodies, yet which had the power of emitting a
beautiful phosphoric light at night, so as to cause the whole ocean
sometimes to glow as if with liquid fire; Phil Briant had cracked more
jokes, good, bad, and indifferent, than would serve to fill a whole
volume of closely-printed pages, and had told more stories than would be
believed by most people; Tim