ULTIMA THUL8 71 



above the buildings of the noble city ; how short a time it 

 is since the Thekla left her moorings on the Forth, and 

 drifted northward with the veering breeze. 



Then as the wind grew stronger and the spinnaker 

 was set, like a broad white wing, how swiftly passed the 

 long, low hills of Fife, the bright green fields, the red, well- 

 ordered villages, the strips of yellow sand ! How well 

 the good ship rode the great green rollers ! How lightly, 

 too, the sea birds rose and fell upon the heaving waves. 



The craft itself and the mere working of it are endless 

 sources of delight. But there has been many a time 

 when the wind was fair and the ship well under way, 

 when the sailor's eye, grown weary of the monotonous 

 expanse, has lingered gladly on the figure even of a 

 solitary gull, on the wet plumage of a diver that showed 

 himself a moment on the surface, or on the crowds of 

 sea-fowl whose white forms lined the reefs and ledges of 

 some iron coast. 



At times a troop of puffins will cross the ship's course, 

 the old birds in black and white, and with quaint and 

 brightly coloured beaks the sea-parrots of the fisher- 

 man. Each pair is followed by their one dusky fledgling, 

 as unlike its smart parents as it is possible for bird*to 

 be. Then, as they are right under the bow, and the 

 yacht is just upon them, swift as thought they vanish, 

 diving underneath the waves. The razor-bills cruise 

 more in couples, the mother leading the way, her single 

 nestling paddling in her wake. The old bird looks 

 anxiously round, and calls "Arragh, arragk;" and pre- 

 sently, if the little argonaut is slow in coming uj 



