THE LOST ISLE 



" Some unsuspected Isle in far-off seas." 



BROWNING. 



IN a region of rare serenity it lay a blue stud on a 

 silver shield aloof from other lands unmapped, un- 

 tarnished, pure, gleaming in the dawn of exultant day. 



Emblem of perfection, its charms were imperative* 

 partly because of remoteness from the taint of man- 

 trodden land, mainly because, by right of discovery, 

 it was joyfully mine. Could anything be more desirable 

 than such a blending of jungle-clad mountains, ver- 

 durous hills, sheltered valleys, orange-tinted beaches, 

 with the shadows of white headlands staining the sea 

 purple ? 



An all-comprehending glance revealed the Isle in 

 the shape of a five-rayed star, each ray irregularly 

 serrated. Here was promise of many a landlocked cove 

 to which the breathings of the sea would be foreign. 

 Unsalted streams wound among the foothills of the 

 central mountain, whence a spire of rose-red porphyry 

 shot into the luminous sky from unbroken jungle, the 

 superficies of which were soft and brilliant as sodden 

 moss. 



Some of the valleys showed in succession ever-green, 

 flower-bedecked glades, with great trees and blossoming 

 shrubs in scattered clumps and patches, among which 

 sinuous ribbons of jungle denoted the courses of deep 



no 



