Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/215



we work  our  way  westward. To keep  the  time watches must  be  set  back  from  five  to  twenty  minutes daily. New pastimes  are  now  sought  out  and  new plays invented. Lovers whose  acquaintance  dates from the  Atlantic  steamer  settle  down  to  business ; sighing to  the  monotonous  oscillations  of  the  engine- beam, watching  the  play  of  porpoises  and  the  posing and circling  of  the  light-winged  sea-birds,  sweltering fondly through  the  live-long  day,  fanning,  sucking oranges, drinking  iced  punches,  pretending  to  read; at sunset  tracing  weird  pictures  on  the  illuminated horizon, buildinQ^  fantastic  castles  and  fittinof  to  them the gorgeous  tracery  of  the  iridescent  west,  sailing  on purple-misted  lakes,  and  sitting  by  silver  channels through which,  round  leaden  rocks  and  black  crags, the flowino;  foam  dashes  at  their  feet,  billino;  and  coo- ing beneath  fleecy  foliage  tender  with  amethyst,  beryl, and gold,  filling  the  sky  with  yet  other  strange  con- ceits, monsters, and  birds,  and  elfin  images,  and  fairy forms ; and  as  the  palpitating  twilight  quickly  deep- ens, seek some  quiet  nook  and  gaze  alternately  at stars  and  eyes,  and  holding  willing  hands,  trace  the belt of  Orion  and  draw  pictures  of  earthly  Edens,

Ah ! those sunsets  at  sea ! Of all  the  gorgeous displays of  nature,  nothing  excels  the  rising  and  the setting of  the  sun  upon  a  tropical  sea. All day  the benignant source  of  light  pursues  its  tireless  course, and as  it  sinks  to  rest,  paints  its  good-night  promise of return  upon  the  cloudy  canvas  of  the  sky. Paus- ing on the  ocean's  brink,  it  turns,  and  flings  back,  in the  plenitude  of  its  power,  a  flood  of  colors  which shames the  puny  efforts  of  art  to  imitate,  and  with  its diverging rays  metamorphoses  the  poised  vapors  into countless images,  made  real  by  the  imagination  of  the observer. These vapors,  beaten  into  being  from  the broad, watery  expanse,  rally  from  every  quarter  to curtain  their  author's  decline,  and  catch  the  lustre  of his  departing  glories. In this  incomparable  display of light,  seen  in  its  perfection  only  in  the  tropics,  the