OCEAN PLAINS 



99 



Along the horizon line they can be seen 

 " humped up " against the sky, traveling in 

 unending procession, moving in rhythmic se- 

 quence, without splash of wave or dash of foam. 

 That they should rise and fall for days with 

 an unbroken surface is still more astonishing. 

 They roll and unroll the reflection of the heav- 

 ens, they flash the sun, moon, and stars on 

 their slopes, they mirror the dawns and the twi- 

 light upon their hilltops; but they never break 

 with their own weight, nor form false curves 

 with their own motion. When they run over 

 shoals or dash up a beach they rise into crests 

 and fall like other waves; but in deep water 

 they come smooth-faced, lift the ship with a 

 great slow heave, slip under it, and are gone 

 on the other side, with no flaw made in the 

 glassy surface, no disturbance of form, no 

 shock of breaking water. When a breeze 

 springs up it puts tiny facets along the ridges 

 and crests, and these may run into a rough 

 chop sea without seriously disturbing the move- 

 ment of the swells. It is not until heavy storm 

 waves set in that the sequence is broken. 



But these deep rolling undulations are 

 known chiefly in the tracks of the Trade Winds 

 and extend over into the Regions of Calms. 

 They are set in motion — kept in motion — by 



Movement 

 of the 

 awella. 



Glass;/ sur- 

 faces tin- 

 broken. 



Region of 

 the Trade 

 Winds. 



