These Antipodes Call To One's Mind Old
Recollections Of Childish Doubt And Wonder.
Only the other
day I looked forward to this airy barrier as a definite point
in our voyage homewards; but now I find it, and all such
resting-places for the imagination, are like shadows, which
a man moving onwards cannot catch.
A gale of wind lasting
for some days, has lately given us full leisure to measure
the future stages in our homeward voyage, and to wish
most earnestly for its termination.
December 21st. - Early in the morning we entered the Bay
of Islands, and being becalmed for some hours near the
mouth, we did not reach the anchorage till the middle of the
day. The country is hilly, with a smooth outline, and is
deeply intersected by numerous arms of the sea extending
from the bay. The surface appears from a distance as if
clothed with coarse pasture, but this in truth is nothing but
fern. On the more distant hills, as well as in parts of the
valleys, there is a good deal of woodland. The general tint
of the landscape is not a bright green; and it resembles the
country a short distance to the south of Concepcion in Chile.
In several parts of the bay, little villages of square tidy
looking houses are scattered close down to the water's edge.
Three whaling-ships were lying at anchor, and a canoe every
now and then crossed from shore to shore; with these
exceptions, an air of extreme quietness reigned over the
whole district.
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