AGASSIZ AND PENIKESE. 2 5 



slippers, and lay down to rest. I had placed the 

 pillow at the foot of the bed, that I might the better 

 -drink in the delightful air and the broad ocean scene 

 which spread itself, in all its freshness, before me. 

 What a lovely view it indeed was! My eyes rested 

 upon a gently sloping bank of the most delicate, vel- 

 vety green appearing the more beautiful from the 

 scantiness of the surrounding vegetation extending 

 to the sea itself, which rolled long lines of low surges 

 lightly toward it. Further on, dancing billows and 

 light whitecaps played merrily in the sunlight of the 

 departing day. Then the surface of all the water 

 was tinged with the most fascinating shadows from 

 the dark, fleecy clouds above; they changed constant- 

 ly; yet their very changes only made them the more 

 beautiful. In the far distance, sail after sail would 

 appear and disappear as a mere speck of light, visi- 

 ble only by long watching. Now a sail would shine, 

 white and clear, before my very eyes, another and 

 another, farther on; the shadows had hidden them 

 before. There were nineteen of them in all and, in 

 the distance, two large, three-masted schooners. 

 Then a .steamer left a long, dark haze of smoke .upon 

 the sky poking its tall, black stack into sight for a 

 moment only to disappear, like many of the sails,in a 

 long umbre cloud which lay against the horizon. 

 At last satisfied by the scene, and fanned by the deli- 

 cious atmosphere wafted in at my window, laden 

 with that peculiar salt sea air, so intoxicating to a 

 true sea lover, I fell asleep, to dream that I was far 

 out upon the ocean, in a small schooner, and being 

 softly rocked to and fro from the "Nest," high up 

 on the foremast, by the winds and gently rolling waves. 

 I do not know how long I slept, but I awoke with 

 the most delightfully refreshed sensation that one 

 can imagine, and ready for almost anything that 

 should present itself. I will not here enter into a 

 discussion of the question, as to how much sleep the 

 human frame needs, at what times, and for how long 

 a time; for I am a firm believer in the theory, that 



