The innocents abroad; . ness. The idea was correct. His is theonly American family in Tangier. There are many foreignConsuls in this place; but much visiting is not indulged is clear out of the world; and what is the nse of 88 THE CONSULS FAMILY. visiting when people have nothing on earth to talk about?There is none. So each Consuls family stays at homechiefly, and amuses itself as best it can. Tangier is full ofinterest for one day, but after that it is a weary prison. TheConsul-General has been here five years, and has got enoughof it to do him for a century, and is going home sho
The innocents abroad; . ness. The idea was correct. His is theonly American family in Tangier. There are many foreignConsuls in this place; but much visiting is not indulged is clear out of the world; and what is the nse of 88 THE CONSULS FAMILY. visiting when people have nothing on earth to talk about?There is none. So each Consuls family stays at homechiefly, and amuses itself as best it can. Tangier is full ofinterest for one day, but after that it is a weary prison. TheConsul-General has been here five years, and has got enoughof it to do him for a century, and is going home shortly. Hisfamily seize upon their letters and papers when the mailarrives, read them over and over again for two days or three,talk them over and over again for two or three more, till theywear them out, and after that, for days together, they eat anddrink and sleep, and ride out over the same old road, and seethe same old tiresome things that even decades of centu-ries have scarcely changed, and say never a single word!. THE CONSULS FAMILY They have literally nothing whatever to talk about. The ar-rival of an American man-of-war is a god-send to them. Oh, Solitude, where are the charms which sages have seen inthy face ? It is the completest exile that I can conceive would seriously recommend to the Government of theUnited States that when a man commits a crime so heinous FAREWELL TO TANGIER. 89 that the law provides no adequate punishnieiit for it, theymake him Consul-General to Tangier. I am glad to have seen Tangier—the second oldesttown in the world. But I am ready to bid it good bye, Ibelieve. We shall go hence to Gibraltar this evening or in the morn-ing ; and doubtless the Quaker City will sail from that portwithin the next forty-eight hours. OHAPTEE X. TTTE passed the Fourth of July on board the Quaker City, V V in mid-ocean. It was in all respects a characteristicMediterranean day—faultlessly beautiful. A cloudless sky; arefresliing summer wind; a radiant sunsh
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectvoyagesandtravels
