I , , swung to anchor without a flutter of the sails , and was at rest .
The flood had made , the wind was nearly calm , and being bound down , the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide .
The sea-reach of stretched before like the beginning of .
In the offing and the sky were welded together without a joint , and in the luminous space the tanned sails of drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked , with gleams of varnished sprits .
A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to in vanishing flatness .
The air was dark above , and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom , brooding motionless over .
was and .
affectionately watched back as stood in the bows looking to seaward .
On there was nothing that looked half so nautical .
resembled , which to is trustworthiness personified .
It was difficult to realize work was not out in , but behind , within the brooding gloom .
Between there was , as have already said somewhere , the bond of .
Besides holding together through long periods of separation , it had the effect of making tolerant of each other 's yarns -- and even convictions .
-- -- had , because of many years and many virtues , the only cushion on , and was lying on the only rug .
had brought out already a box of dominoes , and was toying architecturally with the bones .
sat cross-legged right aft , leaning against the mizzen-mast .
had sunken cheeks , a yellow complexion , a straight back , an ascetic aspect , and , with arms dropped , the palms of hands outwards , resembled .
, satisfied the anchor had good hold , made way aft and sat down amongst .
exchanged a few words lazily .
Afterwards there was silence on board .
For some reason or other did not begin that game of dominoes .
felt meditative , and fit for nothing but placid staring .
The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance .
The shone pacifically ; the sky , without a speck , was a benign immensity of unstained light ; the very mist on was like a gauzy and radiant fabric , hung from , and draping in diaphanous folds .
Only the gloom to the west , brooding over , became more sombre every minute , as if angered by the approach of the sun .
And at last , in its curved and imperceptible fall , the sun sank low , and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat , as if about to go out suddenly , stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over .
Forthwith a change came over , and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound .
rested unruffled at the decline of day , after ages of good service done to , spread out in the tranquil dignity of .
looked at not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs for ever , but in the august light of abiding memories .
And indeed nothing is easier for , than to evoke upon .
The tidal current runs to and fro in its unceasing service , crowded with memories of and it had borne to the rest of or to the battles of .
It had known and served all of whom is proud , from to , -- .
It had borne all whose names are like jewels flashing in the night of time , from returning with rotund flanks full of treasure , to be visited by and thus pass out of the gigantic tale , to , bound on other conquests -- and that never returned .
It had known and .
had sailed from , from , from -- and ; and ; , , , and .
for gold or of fame , all had gone out on , bearing the sword , and often the torch , , .
What greatness had not floated on the ebb of into the mystery of !
... The dreams of , the seed of , the germs of .
The sun set ; the dusk fell on , and lights began to appear along .
, , shone strongly .
Lights of moved in -- a great stir of lights going up and going down .
And farther west on was still marked ominously on the sky , , a lurid glare under the stars .
“ And this also , ” said suddenly , “ has been one of . ”
was
The worst that could be said of was that did not represent .
was , but was , too , while most lead , if one may so express it , a sedentary life .
minds are of the stay-at-home order , and is always with -- ; and so is country -- .
is very much like another , and is always the same .
In the immutability of surroundings , , the changing immensity of life , glide past , veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance ; for there is nothing mysterious to unless it be itself , which is the mistress of existence and as inscrutable as Destiny .
For the rest , after hours of work , a casual stroll or a casual spree on suffices to unfold for the secret of a whole continent , and generally finds the secret not worth knowing .
The yarns of have a direct simplicity , the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut .
But was not typical ( if propensity to spin yarns be excepted ) , and to the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside , enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze , in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine .
remark did not seem at all surprising .
It was just like .
It was accepted in silence .
took the trouble to grunt even ; and presently said , very slow -- “ was thinking of very old times , when first came here , nineteen hundred years ago -- the other day ... .
Light came out of since -- say ?
Yes ; but it is like a running blaze on , like a flash of lightning in the clouds .
live in the flicker -- may it last as long as keeps rolling !
But darkness was here yesterday .
Imagine the feelings of a commander of a fine -- what d'ye call 'em ?
-- trireme in , ordered suddenly to ; run overland across in a hurry ; put in charge of one of the -- must have been , too -- used to build , apparently by the hundred , in a month or two , if may believe what read .
Imagine -- , , a sky the colour of smoke , -- and going up with stores , or orders , or what like .
, , , , -- precious little to eat fit for , nothing but water to drink .
No Falernian wine here , no going .
Here and there lost in , like a needle in a bundle of hay -- cold , fog , tempests , disease , exile , and death -- death skulking in the air , in the water , in the bush .
must have been dying like flies here .
Oh , yes -- did it .
Did it very well , too , no doubt , and without thinking much about it either , except afterwards to brag of what had gone through in time , perhaps .
were men enough to face the darkness .
And perhaps was cheered by keeping eye on a chance of promotion to the fleet at by and by , if had and survived the awful climate .
Or think of -- perhaps too much dice , know -- coming out here in the train of , or , or even , to mend fortunes .
Land in , march through , and in feel the savagery , the utter savagery , had closed round -- all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in , in , in the hearts of .
There 's no initiation either into such mysteries .
has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible , which is also detestable .
And it has a fascination , too , that goes to work upon .
The fascination of the abomination -- know , imagine the growing regrets , the longing to escape , the powerless disgust , the surrender , the hate . ”