isf.Axns 



455 



jiTiU-c ;i I)uii>any (ale It wa> liiiipiil. 

 it8 surfat-i' like gla.'^s and of ihc mo-t 

 exquisite turquoise. Its inner rim was 

 of pure white sand, a windinu' line 

 bounding tur(|Uoise water and the rich, 

 dark green of the >lo|)iiii:- land in a tlat- 

 tened lliiiirc three. 1 iicnci' knew before 

 that iur(|niii>e had a liiiiidi'ed tints and 

 shade.-, hut here the 111 in nt'arest the 

 sand was nnlielievahly i)ale and trans- 

 lueent. then a deeper sheen overlaid the 

 surface, while the eenter of the i)()()l 

 was sliaded with the indescribable pig- 

 ment of sheer de])th. In a great frame 

 of shifting emerald and cobalt, set a 

 shining blue wing of a Morpho butter- 

 fiv. anil vdii can visnali/e this wonder 

 scene. 



Outsidt' the encircling green arm. 

 the water of ocean glowed ultramarine 

 in the slanting sunlight, and stretched 

 on and on to the curving horizon of 

 Atlantis. The scene seemed the es- 

 sence of jieace. and to the casual glance 

 hardly a cloud moved. I sat for 

 a long time and let every part of my 

 retina absorb the glory of colors. Soon 

 motion and life became apparent. 

 Shadows shifted softly across the sur- 

 face. Ijringing hues of delicate purplish 

 blue, memory tints of open ocean, and 

 against these darkened tones a thou- 

 sand specks of white glowed and inter- 

 weaved like a maze of motes in a shaft 

 of stinlight. In innigination we could 

 enlarge them to a swarm of silvery bees, 

 and then my glasses resolved them into 

 gannets — great sea birds with wings six 

 feet from tip to tip — an astounding 

 hint of the actual distance and depth 

 beh^w me of this pool-like bay. An 

 hour later the sunlight left the tur- 

 quoise surface, and its blueness dark- 

 ened and strengthened and became 

 opa(pie. although it was a long time 

 before sunset, and the ocean beyond 

 kept all its brilliance. 



^fy eye was drawn to two tiny dots 

 on the sandy rim. I could just make 

 out that they were moving and guessed 

 them to be dogs or chickens. The 



glasses made magic again and split up 

 each gi'ou|) into a triumvirate of little 

 burros which trotte(l along, and ])res- 

 eiitly lui'iicd into an invisible side 

 I rail. 



I'crhaps the most fascinating discov- 

 ery of motion was that of the water's 

 edge. To the eye thei'c were neither 

 waves nor ripples. l)ut careful scrutiny 

 through the strong jirisms showed a 

 rhythmical approach and receding, a 

 gentle breathlike pulsation wdiich regu- 

 larly darkened and uncovered a thread 

 of sand. I forgot the busy little town 

 on the other side of the island, the com- 

 merce and coaling and the distant echo 

 of war, and giving a last look at the 

 tarnished turquoise pool, the resent- 

 ment of financial acquisition of such 

 beauty softened, and I felt glad that I 

 had indirectly some small tithe of own- 

 ership, as well as the complete memory 

 monopolv of the glories of this passing 

 day. 



As I made my way down the ravine, 

 the fascinating island lizards scram- 

 l)led about or watched me knowingly 

 from rock or tree trunk. As usual I 

 w^recked my net in striving to sweep 

 them into it, and bruised my fingers in 

 vain efforts to seize their slender forms. 

 Rarely I succeeded ; usually I found but 

 a bit of tail in my fingers, or a handful 

 of loose bark, wdiile, just out of reach, 

 the lizards would halt and look me over 

 derisively with their bright intelligent 

 eyes. 



At the roadside I came suddenly 

 upon a little Danish girl of about 

 twelve years, dancing excitedly with a 

 lizard dangling from the end of a slen- 

 der grass stem. Her blue eyes flashed 

 with excitement, her yellow pigtail flew 

 wildly about as she danced and backed 

 away, fearful of touching the little 

 lizard, and yet too fascinated to drop it 

 and allow it to escape. I took it up and 

 found it had been captured with a neat 

 slij) noose. She said it was easy to catch 

 them and showed nie how. and before 

 I reached the wharf 1 had a dozen of 



