CHAPTEE YI 

 THE WIND'S WILL 



The word " restless " that we continually 

 apply to the sea is somewhat inappropriate and 

 misleading. If there is one thing above an- 

 other that the sea would avoid it is restless- 

 ness. It is ever seeking to keep still, to lie flat, 

 to maintain its normal equilibrium; but it is 

 ever being pushed out of place and jostled into 

 dancing points by the winds. The winds are 

 the disturbers of the peace, the uneasy wan- 

 derers that keep driving the water hither and 

 yon, from deep to reef and from reef to deep 

 again. At first the water offers some resist- 

 ance, some defense. It is not a powerful op- 

 position, however, and the winds soon break 

 through it ; but the water has a way of reassert- 

 ing itself at the first opportunity. 



The defense is merely the covering that 

 spreads over water when not in motion — the 

 skin that holds it intact until shattered by 

 some sudden shock or jar. This skin is an 

 elastic envelope that often requires a hard 



119 



The dis- 

 turbing 

 wind*. 



