double diamonds of black sail suspended above their
small hulls, fill the spectacular eye with their, grace ;
reminding one that man has never invented anything
more in harmony with nature than a sail.
And presently we fall into company. The junks,
■driven by the wind, come up in a great flight, with
the aplomb of a bevy of portly matrons, all ribbons
and bosom ; the wrecker, very surly and dirty, overtakes
us on the starboard, flinging silver foam from his bows ;
and in the offing I get sight of the first Salôn boat
moving to the impulse of a small white sail. The
wrecker looks evil enough for any trade, and as he
leaves us behind him in spite of all our pace, reminds
me of a big cur in a run after Jack, outpacing my
gallant, little panting fox-terrier, all heart and. pluck,,
but too short, dear fellow, in his legs to keep ahead'..
No matter; we will come in yet.
1 he Salôn here is eloquent of the irony which
relegates this country of beautiful islands to an abject
and dying race. Their rich luxuriance is beyond belief.
1 hey look as i f they were forests sprung from the:
bottom of the sea. There is scarcely an inch on them
that does not teem with life. There are islands of
such length and altitude, that they might be portions
•of a continent, .for all that the eye can tell; and there,
are happily others that are palpable islands, with the
sea in a ring all round them, waiting for some one to
give them a name. And out of the misty void each
moment new islands are born, like the stars on a
summer night.
SALÔN ON CANTOR ISLAND : FIRST LESSONS IN CIVILISATION