Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-07-07
waters so winsome. and no depths of ocean hold
such maZes OF mystery and delight
REMARKABLE


such maLes OF mystery and delight
REMARKABLE FISH.
The nsh alone are remarkable In variety.
Among hem are the black fish. the porpoise
which seems to tumble about In all waters; the
shark, the deadly foe OF the sailor: the dolphin.
IN endless pursuit Of the delicate flying fish which
scudS through the air because it is chased aid not
because IL enjoys It, which same dolphin Is never
sookea ABOARD a vessel unless silver half-doilar
- put Ia the pot Tor II the half-doilar b.ackenS
then the dolphin Is fun OF poison from having
sucked copper from ship bottoms; the whipray,
Ike the roander aud with tail like coachman's
Whip, sometimes 10 feet long; the jewish. which
Is 10 these waters the halibut OF mort heaSt
coast; the yeilow-tailed snapper, gigantic tur-
tles, the catfish, the groupa, striped snapper,
Donito. spanish mSckerel angel-nsn, pork-n5n,
hOund-1sh and sucking fish. Then there is
man-of-war, that strange formation OF maritime
HE, Ike mass OF jelly with its ventrai ms ex-
lending In every direction, riding the heaviest seas
IKE bird, and which sea-folk say Is a deadly pol
son 10 the touch; the star-flsn, sea-urchins, the
humming- bird fish, the phosphorescent 1ely-fish
or giowworm OF the ocean, and other wonderful
and startlingly-colored mites OF these waters; be-
sides tiny caves and grOttoes OF white coral,
where the sponges like dark forests are forever
where nestle anu hide sea-Ians, the rainbow-nsh,
conches containing priceless pearls, and such deli
cate els or The ocean as we OF the land can only
Imagine through fairy lore or the wttchery OF
dreams
THE ULTIMA THULE.
For the traveller, the scientist, the invalid, the
ureamer, the outcast, or the outlaw these ISLANDS
are tie ultima Thule. Life is sustained with
scarcely an effort II Is a region OF prodgal pro-
vision, OF thyme and BALM OF life in endless lula
BY All this may be the vision OF tollers. Its real
ization TO any people begets squalor. The popu-
latlon OF the entire Islands, whose capital ana
Yoyernor-general are at Nassau. New Providence
Is nondescript, with English, spanish, and negro
commlngl1ng, and comprise such people as might
De nkened 10 lazzaront uncOnSciouSly possessing
heaven; and. In coming To know and think OF iJ
all IL Is one OF those Intellectual evidences that
almost eompels TIL rejection OF any sort OF future
state In which activity and progression are not
possible There Is actually sense OF rest in these
latitudeS SO Intense as TO be oppressive. Some
thlng In the very air compels steep that can be
llkened only 70 a rest that brings no renewal of
the eiatlOn and vigOr We In The colder climates
know; and doubt not that this carries on from
physical TO mental effects, and dinS intellectual
and spiritual alertne5S sadly. Here might the
oden sireneS have dweit and sung and charmed
and destroyed, and wiser than Ulysses he who
resisted The spell InUeei, the legend goes that
here was the original paradise. But To know il
and experience land leave 1t-are delicious;
though IL all leaves with 1t an undertOne
OF sadness, because one so much longs 10
change the Interchangeable law OF compensation
ana give this sweet cline 10 the driven, Jaded men
and women OF our hardier more virile peoples,
and compel these half-awake eXistences to live
anu labor where the awful friction OK things would
sSralghten the form, put light behind the eyes,
and pOuSh the perception until recognizable.
EDGAR L. WAKENAN.