1 82 THE LIFE OF PHILIP HENRY GOSSE. 



"as we passed on before an increasing breeze, that 



" tempered the tropical heat with its refreshing breath, 



" we saw the coast dark and high only a few miles off. 



"Many lights were seen in the scattered cottages, and 



"here and there a fire blazed up from the beach, or a 



" torch in the hand of some fishermen was carried from 



" place to place. My mind was full of Columbus, and of 



"his feelings on that eventful night when the coast of 



" Guanahani lay spread out before him, with its moving 



" lights and proud anticipations. With curiosity and 



" hope, somewhat analogous (parva componere magnis), did 



" I contemplate the tropical island before me, its romance 



" heightened by the indefiniteness and obscurity in which 



" it lay. I was on deck several times during the night, 



" and in the intervals was still engaged, in dreams, in 



" endeavouring to penetrate the darkness of the shore." 



At daybreak next morning they were off Port Royal, 



but becalmed ; they had leisure to enjoy one of the most 



brilliant views in the world, the blue crystal sea, the white 



city of Kingston, the majestic Peak, towering eight 



thousand feet into the azure sky, and contrasting, in its 



uniform tone of blue, with the purple ridges of the lower 



mountain ranges. Three black pilots boarded the vessel 



about nine, but it was noon before a gradual breeze sprang 



up and carried them in to Port Royal. Gosse was put 



ashore at the wharf, and walked off to the Palisades, the 



long sandy spit which makes a sea-lake of the ample 



harbour of Kingston. 



" I found it barren enough ; but it all was strange, and 

 " to feet which for nearly two months had not felt the 

 " firm earth, even a run along the beach was exhilarating. 

 " The graceful cocoa-nut palm sprang up in groups from 

 "the water's edge, waving its feathery fronds over the 

 "rippling waves that dashed about its fibrous foot. 



