Other
islands, perhaps high, precipitous, black bluffs, are crowned with a
white lighthouse, whence, as evening comes on, twinkles a star across the
melancholy deep,--seen by vessels coming on the coast, seen from the
mainland, seen from island to island. Darkness descending, and, looking
down at the broad wake left by the wheels of the steamboat, we may see
sparkles of sea-fire glittering through the gloom.
Salem, August 22d.--A walk yesterday afternoon down to the Juniper and
Winter Island. Singular effect of partial sunshine, the sky being
broadly and heavily clouded, and land and sea, in consequence, being
generally overspread with a sombre gloom. But the sunshine, somehow or
other, found its way between the interstices of the clouds, and
illuminated some of the distant objects very vividly. The white sails of
a ship caught it, and gleamed brilliant as sunny snow, the hull being
scarcely visible, and the sea around dark; other smaller vessels too, so
that they looked like heavenly-winged things, just alighting on a dismal
world. Shifting their sails, perhaps, or going on another tack, they
almost disappear at once in the obscure distance.
Pages:
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113