Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-03-06
ON A SAILING SHIP.
PICTURESQUE EFFECTS OF NOON
LIGHT ON THE WAVES.

4 Magnincent sesas IN ths Ortest-Coe-
aict Of MoonligAs sd LiGhtain@-A
JsnaIea shower % Phospherescest
waters-The Phantom ship.
A sailing ship moving quietly onward.
or lying restfully in the heart OF calm,
offers a surface upon which the magic
brushes Of the moon will paint hundred
lovely things The clear, sharp shadows
resemble jet inlaid upon the ivory OF the
planks The spaces of splendor upon the
Yards between the black dyes. wrought
by the interception of the reflection of the
end of boom or the clew of \ sail, are
like bands OF shining silver. There is
nothing fairer than the spectacle Of
sleeping ship with her canvas hanging 81
lent from the yards, stealing ont to the
light Of the moon that scars sparkling as
II wet from the sea.
A fine effect is often produced by a con-
nict Of moonlight and lightning wit
messed q magnificent scene OF this kind in
the Indian ocean, the Island Of AInster-
dam in sight On the starbOard quarter.
There was full moon in the north, and
In the south hung vast bank Of clouds
charged with fire and thunder. The early
RuSls Vi LllS citCtEiC otoii III OtohC away
great wings Of vapor from the shoulder Of
the main body, and sent them speeding
athwart the moon. The shining of the
luminary was ghastly, rendered so by the
alterations Of her own light, darting
wildly over the edge Of the driven clouds,
with the quick dazzle Of the southern
flashes. Her beams seemed to be colored
by the electric leapings. 1t was the eye,
OF course, that carried the reflection OF
the blue and sun bright darts to the
northern illumination; but the effect was
az though the lightning struck its own
helhsh quality into the fabric Of the silver
beams o. they fell from the rims of the
flying clouds. The combined illumina-
ton put q new and monstrous face upon
the ocean. IL made you think OF a dead
sea cOmpleXioned TO a very mockery OF
vitality by the light of such flames as
those from which Milton's Fiend rose TO
steer his ki2ht to dry land.
PHosPBoREscENr WATERS.
Twas once becalmed in highly phos-
phorescent waters, but the surface WAS 80
still that the few CLEANS visible in the
dark profound were faint rs the reflection
Of a star riding upon the heave OF the hid
den swell. A cloud gathered overhead
and its sooty belly seemed to lean for sup
port upon our scarcely swaying trucks.
Suddenly 1t rnined. One should spend
some months in Jamaica to understand
the meaning OF such a shower as this.
In few moments our decks were half
full Of water, the scuppers sobbing madly;
the roaring Of the rain and hail shifting
the ocean drowned all other sounds. The
sea was so phosphOrescent that piece Of
wood, dropped overheard, Clipped out fire
AZ though II had burst into flames Judge
then Of the effect of that Niagara fan Of
rain and hail The ocean was flashed up
into plain of fire. 1t swept sparkling in
one vast incandescent sheet to its limits,
dimming into sickly sulphur as it ap-
preached the horizon.
You might suppose that such an illu-
| mination IA this would have revealed any
| thing af!oat upon il; but, though ! took q
| long look round, being deeply impressed
| by this sudden, wonderful burning OF the
ocean, | saw nothing, tll all at once the
darkness was split by flash of lightning
that leaped from the clouds away over our
forward arm and shot into the water, as
1t seemed TO me, league distant and on
our s,arboard quarter and then to this
mighty flare there sprang ont upon the
view large ship, we'll within q mile Of
us, snuggeti down to her topsnils. The
| sight made me catch my breath for an in
| slant for the wonder of it lay in her
| having been invisible until the lightning
| threw her up, so bright was the water
with the lashing of the rain. One waited
| for second flash to make sure; and !
dare say, had she foundered before 1t
came, there would not have been wanting
| people among rs to swear that they had
seen the Phantom Ship.
| ORIGIN or THE LEGEND.
Indeed it Is quite possible that this
grand old legend had its origin in some
atmospheric effect due to lightning, moon
shine or fog l have sometimes at sea,
| but more often in our narrow waters,
watched ship for a few moments, re-
| moved my gaze. and thinking of her
| presently, looked for her again and found
| her gone This il one Of those mysterious
| disappearances with which all searnen are
| acquainted. The evanishment, however,
grows more perplexMg when, after search
| Ing for the vessel and believing her to be
gone for good, you look for her again later
on and find her almost in the same place.
| A thing of this kind would have been ac-
| copied by the early mariner as a miracle.
| He would have come home with yarn
| about 1t ms long us his arm, and so have
| fired the first prtically minded guest he
could consrain with his eye with visions
and fancies of Il spectral ship.
BE this rs it will, disappearance and
Temperatures OF this kind can be due to
nothing but the subtle and imperceptible
gathering of haze about the object. Mist
will often take its complexion from the
atmosphere. | have seen bank Of haze
Of so skylike an azure that but for the
curvature of the sea line under it caused
by the defective sweep Of its base should
have accepted it as pure blue mir. White
mists also, of a slightly opaline tincture
corresponding to perfection with the hue
Of the heavens beyond, | have detected
only by the apparent depression OF the
horizon under them. A ship may be in
the act of piercing one of these elusive
wells with her flying jibboom when you
first catch sight of her. She is as plain
in your sight rs your own vessel; yet when
YOU seek her minute after she has van
ished, and there is nothing in the somber
or sunny texture of the stuff she has en-
tered to persuade you that what you are
viewing j.. not the same brown or ceru-
lean sky that stands over and on either
hand Of it. Macmillan's Magazine.
|
Rest Trade to Learn.