Robert Ellis Dudgeon

“ I was all alone on the wide still sea; not a breath of wind was there, not a ripple on the surface of the ocean, but only a long swell that rocked the boat lazily up and down—the remains of yesterday's storm.
As the sun rose the heat became intolerable, and I formed my sail into a sort of canopy to protect me from his scorching rays. The dreadful silence of the calm was more intolerable than the hissing and roaring of the tempest. The roar of the wind and the rush of the waters prevent one feeling absolutely solitary. ”

“ We, like you, acknowledge the obligation of the state to supply education to all. Without exhausting our efforts in the thankless task of rearing those who are extremely unlikely to be of service to the state, we place all sound and perfect children in a position to profit by the education we give, so that they may become useful citizens. You leave the children you propose to educate in squalid over-crowded dwellings, with insufficient food and clothing and vicious surroundings, so that, it seems to me, the education you give them will only make them more expert thieves or more crafty beggars. ”

“ I have to look at my oddly constructed spectacles—so totally different in principle from anything known to our opticians—my compressed-air bottle, my shark-spear, my weight-belt, and the few specimens of the coinage of Colymbia I brought away in my pockets, before I am thoroughly persuaded of the reality of it all.
At times a longing for subaqueous life possesses me. My clothes feel oppressive, I seem to be borne down by the weight of my own body, I am tired of halving to preserve the upright position, and I cannot bear the draughts and dust of ordinary life. ”