Marshall County independent., 1899-06-23

a kind Of spear. about SIX leeI ions'
hewn out of piece of fine teak Woou'
which | found upon the beach
This weapon | made and pointed
with great care and armed with II
frequently lay in watch for the sea
lions. but without success.
On the shore. at this season. wheh
the sunshine was reflected from the
sloping faces of the volcanic rocks anu
from the surface of tn" sea, the neat
was beyond all descriptlon-intense'
breathless and suffocating. so that the
lungs would collapse painfully in the
difficulty of respiration
To breathe was like attempting IL
at the mouth of a newly-Opened lur-
mace. and so l usually retired lnianu
and sought the cool solitude of the
deem thickets. or wandered through
groves of solemn. Impressive and ma
jestic old trees: for some were there
so old that they must have cast the
shadows of their foliage on Alphonso
de Albuquerque or Tristan da Cunha
and their bearded followers.
How many ocean storms had swept
their leaves into the waste Of waters
since then,
We had now been five days on the
island without a sail being seen.
though more than half our time was
spent in watching the horizon; and so
Tom Lambournes old shirt still waved
in vain from the bOOm-end on the
m0untain-tOp.
On the fifth day, however, to our
surprise, the signal was no longer Wis
ible, so We supposed that gust of
wind had overthroVn il in the night.
Lambourne. Carlton and Probar
started for the mOuntain-tOp to re-
store it, while Hislop and | rambled
into the woods, where we had view
of the shining sea to the westward.
The waves came in long rollers, as
there was a fresh breeze blowing from
the west, and the foam rose white and
high on the tremendous bluffs OF the
Inaccessible Isles. as We named them.
All the water between them was a
sheet OF sparkling and snowy froth.
amid which, had We been nearer. We
should doubtless have seen the black
heads Of the seaiiOHS. as they sported
in the spray ard sunshine.
On asking HislOp how FAR he thought
We were from the continents of Africa
and South America he replied, without
hesitation
We are about fifteen hundred miles
from the mouth of tie Rio de la Plata
on the westward. and twelve hundred
odd from the Cape Of Good Hope on
the east; but there is land nearer to
US
Land nearer" | reiterated
There are the three isles of Tristan
da Cunha. and about five hundred miles
southwest OF us a desolate rock called
the Isle of Diego Alyarez: and fortu-
nate it is indeed for Us that we were
not cast away there, as it yields only
messy grass and now and then a few
seals or sea-elephants may be seen up
on the reefs about it. Dut. Dick Rod
ney, does it not make one long to be
afioat again. with a good ship under
foot, both tacks and the breeze, too
alta cloud of canvas. carrying the
three masts into one when seen asterr
the lower studding-sail booms rig
ged out and dipping in the fyine
spray as she rolls from side TO side
does it net. | say. bring all this tC
mind, VIXEN from here We can watcf
the waves that rose, perhaps. between
the shores of Mexico. rolling in foam
between these rocky isles? Do yol
remember Homer's description of the
curling wave?" And without waitin,
my reply he began to lecite from tht
lliad with wonderful facility:
"As on the hoarse. resoundinq shore
when blows the stormy west.
The billowy tide comes surging wide
from oceans dark blue breast;
First in mid-sea tbs born, then swell
and RACES more and more.
And rolling on with snowy back
comes laundering near the shore
Then rears it crest, firm and sublime
and with tumultuous brav
SriteS the grim front of the rugge,
rock, and spits the briny spray.
How far Hislop, in his classical en-
thusiasm might have pursued his fire
translation, till We had all the deed
OF Agamemnon and others on that tire
mendous day before the walls Of Tro,
1 cannot say, had not a crashing SCUM
in the adjacent thicket reused an
alarmed us.
We started up and lad Just time t
conceal ourselves behind the trunk c
a tree when herd of seven wild boar
came plunging out of the thicket (
drink at a runnel which flowed towar
the sea.
They were unlike any of the swir
ish race We had ever seen before. an
but for our vague sensations of alarI
we could have watched them wit
pleasure. as they inserted their lon.
fierce snouts in the water that sparkle
under the forest leaves
They were all road-shouldered an
mails. with high crests and thicl
bristly names, and all were black /
color or darkly brindled.
Unlike those of the styled hogs.
which We had been accustomed ;
home, their erected bristles shone lii
silver or polished steel in the rays ,
sunshine that fell through the wavin
branches, their eyes we' flashing an
clear, and their skins were all cleal
as if washed for n show of prize pig
Thin fianked, active and strong. the
began to grunt and gambOl. and
splash up the gittering water, ii
suddenly they caught sight of us, an
all fled, save one, a fierce old boa
which, after tearing up the grass wit