Page:Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies.djvu/40

10 while it was in view, was so attractive as to keep us too unsettled to attend much to other things. In the evening a breeze, which we had had during the day, increased into a gale, and as we were in the act of crossing L'Agullas Bank, which lies off Cape L'Agullas—the southermost point of Africa—the waves were magnificently bold. Sometimes we were in a deep hollow, and the next minute mounted on the top of a lofty billow, which, as it approached, seemed ready to swallow us up; but the buoyancy of the vessel occasioned it to rise over the surge; in mounting which, the masts would form an angle of, perhaps, 45 degrees with the horizon, in an opposite direction to that in which the billow advanced: on reaching its top the inclination was suddenly reversed, the wind at the same time pressing the vessel against the receding mass of water, which boiled from under the leeward side, or sometimes flowed over a portion of the deck. Sometimes the top of a broken billow struck against the ship's side, and covered half the vessel with spray. Now and then a shower fell, but often the sun shone brightly on the agitated scene, illuminating the spray from the tops of the broken, dark blue waves, with the colours of the rainbow, and sometimes shewing light of emerald green through the unbroken water. Vast numbers of Stormy Petrels were sailing on the wing, within a few yards of the stern of our bark, and numerous Wandering Albatrosses were flying around, or occasionally settling on the surface of the boisterous ocean, and riding with careless dignity over the highest billows, scarcely regarding their surfy tops.

When custom has taken away the nervous excitement occasioned by the rolling of the ship, it is surprising how little the mind recognizes danger under such circumstances; and "how thoughtless still the thoughtless seem." For my own part, I enjoyed the spectacle; but the remembrance, that He who rules over all is our Father, merciful and kind, regarding us for good, was necessary for the enjoyment: and the knowledge, that such scenes were often the preludes of a summons to the bar of eternal judgment, rendered it to me, a time of deep searching of heart; and one in which self