10 BARREN ISLAND AND ARCHIPELAGO 



so bright that all but the larger stars were drowned in light. 

 Then, when the heat of day was over, we would take our 

 pillows on deck and — in a perfect silence but for the creaking 

 booms and the water gurgling in the scupper-pipes — watch 

 mast and stars swing slowly to and fro until sleep brought 

 unconsciousness of the night and its beauty. 



But it is not always so even in the tropics, and the contrary, 

 and not infrequent, experience, without going to extremes, is 

 the squall of a moonless night. 



As the dense clouds rapidly advance from the horizon and 

 blot out the stars, one is left in inky darkness broken only by 

 the glimmer of the lamps in the binnacle. Soon the wind 

 comes tearing down and whistles loudly in the rigging, while 

 with lowered sail, the vessel seems to fly through the water — 

 judging by the rolling wings of foam that stream from her 

 shoulders and gleam weirdly in the green and red rays of 

 the sidelights. Presently the rain falls in a stinging chilly 

 torrent, killing the breeze and leaving the boat rolling uncomfort- 

 ably on the surface ; and when the furious downpour is over, 

 and the night is quiet once more, all that remains to show the 

 past disturbance is sodden canvas, stiffened cordage, and the 

 uneasy heave of the wind-whipped sea. 



So the squall passes — generally leaving a calm behind it 

 — having in a little space squandered enough unavailing breeze 

 to have helped the vessel on her course for hours to come. 



At last, one evening, we saw Narkondam from the mast- 

 head, about sixty miles away ; and next morning Barren Island 

 had risen above the horizon. These two little islands, eastern 

 outliers of the Andamans, and connecting links between the 

 eruptive regions of Burma and Sumatra, are both of volcanic 

 origin, though the former is now extinct. 



Barren Island, about two miles in diameter, is merely 

 the crater of a volcano rising abruptly from the sea, which, 

 a quarter of a mile from shore, is nearly everywhere 150 fathoms 

 or more in depth. 



Approaching from the east, we caught a glimpse, while still 



