They contain round archipelagoes of romantic isles, even as the Polynesian waters do; in large part, are shored by two great contrasting nations, as the Atlantic is; they furnish long maritime approaches to our numerous territorial colonies from the East, dotted all round their banks; here and there are frowned upon by batteries, and by the goat-like craggy guns of lofty Mackinaw; they have heard the fleet thunderings of naval victories; at intervals, they yield their beaches to wild barbarians, whose red painted faces flash from out their peltry wigwams; for leagues and leagues are flanked by ancient and unentered forests, where the gaunt pines stand like serried lines of kings in Gothic genealogies; those same woods harboring wild Afric beasts of prey, and silken creatures whose exported furs give robes to Tartar Emperors; they mirror the paved capitals of Buffalo and Cleveland, as well as Winnebago villages; they float alike the full - rigged merchant ship, the armed cruiser of the State, the steamer, and the beech canoe; they are swept by Borean and dismasting blasts as direful as any that lash the salted wave; they know what shipwrecks are, for out of sight of land, however inland, theyhave drowned full many a midnight ship with all its shrieking crew.
它們包括不少羅曼蒂克的大小群島,如同玻利尼西亞海一樣,大部地區(qū)又都是兩岸住有兩個(gè)顯著不同的民族,象大西洋那樣,他們從東部地方,設(shè)置了一些綿長(zhǎng)的海口,通到我們那許多準(zhǔn)州的地方,防波堤星棋羅布,到處都被排炮,被巍峨的馬啟諾海峽(馬啟諾海峽——東邊是休倫湖,西邊是密執(zhí)安湖。海峽上有炮臺(tái),是十八世紀(jì)時(shí)英、法,十九世紀(jì)英、美在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)互爭(zhēng)的要地。)的山羊似的參差的大炮弄得愁眉不展。他們聽(tīng)到過(guò)海軍艦隊(duì)的雷鳴似的勝利,他們有時(shí)還把他們的淺灘放棄給未開(kāi)化的野人,那些野人的紅漆色的臉從他們那些毛皮小屋里閃出紅光來(lái),兩邊都有大片的古老的、人跡未到的森林,在那里,那些形狀可怕的松樹(shù)高矗得象峨特族的多如牛毛的帝王。那些樹(shù)林里都潛伏有許多非洲野獸和有柔毛的動(dòng)物,它們那些可供出口的皮毛都拿給韃靼皇帝做龍袍去了,他們反映出布法羅和克利夫蘭(克利夫蘭——在伊利湖上的商港。)的光滑的首邑和文尼伯哥湖(文尼伯哥湖——在美國(guó)威斯康星州。)上的村莊的生活。他們跟裝備齊全的商船,跟國(guó)家的全副武裝的巡洋艦,跟大輪船,跟淺灘的獨(dú)木舟同樣地游來(lái)泛去。他們被朔風(fēng)(原文Borean,即Boreas,希臘神話中的北風(fēng)之神。)掃蕩得桅斷船破,好象遭到鹽潮的沖擊那樣的可怕,他們也懂得船只失事的滋味,因?yàn)椴还苁窃诳床灰?jiàn)陸地的地方,還是在內(nèi)陸,他們都在半夜里不知經(jīng)歷過(guò)多少次連人帶船覆沒(méi)的慘禍。