So We Set A
Little Sail, And Commenced Forereaching Slowly On Our Course.
Little
and little the wind died, and it soon fell dead calm.
That evening
(Wednesday), some twenty albatrosses being congregated like a flock of
geese round the ship's stern, we succeeded in catching some of them, the
first we had caught on the voyage. We would have let them go again, but
the sailors think them good eating, and begged them of us, at the same
time prophesying two days' foul wind for every albatross taken. It was
then dead calm, but a light wind sprang up in the night, and on Thursday
we sighted Banks Peninsula. Again the wind fell tantalisingly light,
but we kept drawing slowly toward land. In the beautiful sunset sky,
crimson and gold, blue, silver, and purple, exquisite and
tranquillising, lay ridge behind ridge, outline behind outline, sunlight
behind shadow, shadow behind sunlight, gully and serrated ravine. Hot
puffs of wind kept coming from the land, and there were several fires
burning. I got my arm-chair on deck, and smoked a quiet pipe with the
intensest satisfaction. Little by little the night drew down, and then
we rounded the headlands. Strangely did the waves sound breaking
against the rocks of the harbour; strangely, too, looked the outlines of
the mountains through the night. Presently we saw a light ahead from a
ship: we drew slowly near, and as we passed you might have heard a pin
drop. "What ship's that?" said a strange voice.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 28 of 167
Words from 7419 to 7671
of 45285
