Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1842-11-25
DOOM OF THE DART,

BctuCtSo VII lUc Wtd'lltT QudEtcT W DCHbIAl
the sun 60 down; and those who have new
or seen such spectacle at sea, can have no
idea Of the vastncss with which il fills the
mind. Slowly the broad disc wheeled down
toward the west, seeming to diate as it app
preached the horizon, and as its lower edge
touched the distant seaboard, trailing long
line Of golden light across the undulaing SUR
face Of the deep. At this Instant the scene
was magnificent Pile upon pile of clouds,
assuming every fantastic shape, and vary
ing from red to purple, and from purple 10
gold, lay heaped around the setting god. For
a few moments the pillows could be seen
rising and falling against the broad disc of
the descending luminary: while, with slow
and scarcely pcrccptibo motion, be gradu-
ally slid beneath the horizon lnsensibly
the brilliant hues of the clouds died away,
changing from gorgeous crimson, through
almost every graduation Of color, unit, a,
length faint apple-green invested the whole
western sky, slowly fading into deep azure,
as it approached the zenith.
Beautiiol!" exclaimed the skipper, zone
Disht almost become poetical in gazing on
such scene"
The sun had now been hid for some min
utes, and tho apple-crcen Of Tic sky was
rapidly becoming colder and more indis!inct,
though the edge of solitary dark cloud,
hanging few degrees above the horizon,
was yet tipped with a fam, crimson. Mean
time the stars began TO appear in the oppo-
size armament, one after another twinklinr
into sight, as if by magic, until tho whole
eastern heaven was gemmed with them.
locked around the horizon. Never before
had its immensely 50 forcibly impressed me.
The vast concave swelling high above me
| and gradually rounding away toward the dis
,ant seaboard, seemed almost Of ilimitable
extent; aud when over all the mighty space
OF ocean included within its circuit, my eve
rested on not a solitary sail, experienced
sensation Of loneliness such as no pen can
describe. And when the breeze again died
away, leaving the sails idly Tapping to and
iro as the schooner rocked on the swell, my
Imagination suggested tina, perhaps it nigh,
DO our doom, as il had been that Of others,
TO lie for days, nay weeks and months, in the
midst of that desert latitude, shu, out from
the world, enclosed within the walls of ,ha,
gigantic prison: and shuddcrcd, as well
might, at the very idea Of such fate.
Ii was now "A dead calm. No percepthlc
agitation could be discovered on the surface
OF the deep, except the long undulating swell
which never subsidies, and which can be
compared to nothing but the heavy breath
ing of some gigantic monster when lulcd to
repose. Now and then, however, a ,inny
ripple, occasionod by the parohole of some
equally tinny inl,ahitant of the deep, would
twinkle sharp in the starlight; while, close
under the shadow Of our hull, keen eve
might detect hundreds of fire. flies Of I'M
ocean, their plosphoric lanterns eli,terns
sai'y as they shot to and fro. Absorbed in
the contemplation of tho spectacle, suffer
cd more than half an hour 10 pass unAeeied ;
and il was not unit. the sea began 10 be SEN
sibly agi,ated, and the w,nd 10 frcshcn. ,la,
! looked up. Tho change which had come
over the armament astonished me, and re-
quires a passing description.
When had last looked at the heavens, the
whole eastern sky was sown thick with stars,
though no moon had as yet appeared. Along
the western seaboard still stretched the long
line Of paIo applr-grcen which the setting
Gun tuitiNu III tlldi AibD tti. lit iIlEl-
ament over head was without cloud, its
dark azure surface spangled with stars. Be-
tween the zenith and the eastern horizon
hung the dark cloud which have already
mentioned, a black opaque mass of yapor APP
parently not larger than a capstan head.
But every thing now presented dieren,
aspect. The first thing that met my eye
was the upper portion otthc disc Of the moon
peeping above the eastern scaboard, the
dark fiery red Of its face belraying tie exis-
tence Of "a thin mist. Fascinated by the
sight, l remained gazing for more than a
minute on the rising luminary, as she emcr-
god gracefully and majesIicaiy from her
wa,ery bed. At length, and apparently with
an accelerated motion, she slid suddenly
above the line of the horizon, pouring line
OF silver light along the crests of the undula-
ting swell, while ins,antaneously, as if put
ting on all her glory, she emerged from the
mist that had surrounded her, and rolled on
IN pearly brightness, calm and unlimmed,
the stars fading before her approach.-Onc
planet alone remained visible-i, was the
evening star, walking in almost equal beau
y, little to the right Of her sister luminary.
Never before had those fine lines of Milton,
In which no pictures her as leading on the
choral hosts Of heaven, rose so wildly before
my Imagination.
When turned my gaze westward, how
diiioren, the spectacle that met my eye The
little cloud which | have described, had
grown to gigantic size, and now obscurcd
the whole larboaId ornament, its dark and
Jagged front third Of the way around the
horizon, and piling IFS gloomy masses high
up toward the zeni,l,.-IIcre and there.
where thinner edge than usual was dis
closed to the light, it caught the rays of the
rising iuminary which it reflected back, tina,
the cloud seemed lined with silver. The
sea, Immediately under this gloomy bank of
vopor, was Of the color Of ink, and reminded
me Of the tabled waters Of Acheron. The
whole spectacle was calculated to ill the
mind with dark and ominous forebodings ;
and confess my own feelings partook OF
this uneasy character.
The wind was rapidly freshening; but IN
stead OF setting in steadily from any quarter,
1 l.