Robert Merry's Museum Volume 1-2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1842 Excerpt: ...very anxious to have it freeze over, so that they could slide and skate upon the ice. At last, there came a very cold night, and in the morning the boys went to the pond, to see if the ice would bear them. Their father came by at the moment, and seeing that it was hardly thick enough, told the boys that it was not safe yet, and advised them to wait another day before they ventured upon it. But the boys were in a great hurry to enjoy the pleasure of sliding and skat OMAS TROTTER.ing. So they walked out upon the ice; but pretty soon it went crack--crack--crack and down they were all plunged into the water It was not very deep, so they got out, though they were very wet, and came near drowning; and all because they could not wait. Now these things, though they may seem to be trifles, are full of instruction. They teach us to beware of impatience, to wait till the fruit is ripe; they teach us that the cup of pleasure, seized before the proper time, is turned into poison. They show us the importance of patience Travels, Adventures, and Experiences of Thomas Trotter. CHAPTER VI. Journey to Mount JEtna.--Mule travelling.--Neglected state of the country.--Melilla, the town of honey.--Narrow escape of the author.--Prospect of JEtna.--A Sicilian village and country-house described.--Comparison of Sicily with New England. I Left Syracuse in the morning, to pursue my journey toward Mount iEtna. There was no road for wheel-carriages, although the distance to the mountain is but about thirty miles, and the city of Catania, which is as large as Boston, stands directly at the foot of the mountain. If this island was inhabited by Americans, they would build a railroad between the two cities in a year's time; and hundreds of people would be travelling upon it every day. Bu...