and almost drowned in the floods of the Patagonian Pampas.
An avalanche sweeps some of them away; a condor carries off a lad.
In Australia they are stopped by jungles and by quagmires;
they hunt kangaroos. In New Zealand they take refuge amid hot
sulphur springs and in a house "tabooed"; they escape by starting
a volcano into eruption.

Here then are fancy and extravagance mixed with truth and information.
Verne has done a vast and useful work in stimulating the interest
not only of Frenchmen but of all civilised nations, with regard
to the lesser known regions of our globe. He has broadened knowledge
and guided study. During the years following 1865 he even, for a time,
deserted his favorite field of labor, fiction, and devoted himself
to a popular semi-scientific book, now superseded by later works,
entitled "The Illustrated Geography of France and her Colonies."

Verne has perhaps had a larger share than any other single individual
in causing the ever-increasing yearly tide of international travel.
And because with mutual knowledge among the nations comes mutual
understanding and appreciation, mutual brotherhood; hence Jules Verne
was one of the first and greatest of those teachers who are now leading
us toward International Peace.


In Search of the Castaways

or

The Children of Captain Grant