Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/219



to cut  away  the  planks  on  which  it  feeds. Some pump, some  look  after  the  women  and  children,  some secure their  treasures,  some  unhinge  their  state-room door preparatory  to  a  plunge,  and  finally  the  heroic imperiled — laugh and  disperse. It was  the  custom for one  of  the  officers  to  organize  certain  of  the  pas- sengers into a  fire  brigade,  allotting  each  his  respec- tive station and  duty  ;  when  the  roles  had  been  given, and the  line  of  action  once  or  twice  explained,  every few days  thereafter  the  fire  alarm  was  struck,  and each sprung  to  his  post. The benefit  of  this  exercise was three-fold  :  first  it  promoted  safety  by  adding  to the  corps  of  workers,  secondly  it  tended  to  allay  fear should there  be  a  real  alarm,  and  thirdly  it  affordec^ amusement.

Evening bestows  by  far  the  most  delightful  hours of the  tropical  twenty-four. Then the  awning  is rolled  up,  the  suffocating  breath  of  day  hies  westward after the  sun,  and  the  fresh  cooling  air,  welcome  as water  to  the  parched  tongue,  falls  on  the  face  like  a benediction. The firmament  is  dense  with  stars, gathering lustre  with  the  growing  night,  and  lining the great  concave  from  horizon  to  horizon  like  a canopy  of  transient  azure  thick-studded  with  blazing gems. The ship's  wake,  which  during  the  day  is changingly  tri-colored — upon  a  ground-work  of  deep blue, mottled  cloud  of  bright  green,  frosted  with pearly froth,  and  burnished  and  spangled  by  the  sun's rays — is  now  luminous  with  phosphorescent  fire. This is the  romance  of  sea-voyaging,  the  poetry  of  travel.

Occasionally the  engine  is  stopped  to  repair  a  valve, to renew  the  wadding  of  the  piston,  or  to  put  in  a new  beam — by  which  delay  we  may  imagine  what  it is  to  be  becalmed  at  sea,  to  lay  lolling  like  a  spirit newly disembodied,  poised  in  space  before  setting  out on its  career,  dead  and  conscious  of  it. But such  de- tentions are usually  short,  and  soon  we  were  on  our way again. Church service  was  usually  held  on  Sun- days; if a  clergyman  was  on  board  he