26 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 
Every day it blends into sky so softly that all seems 
sky, or all may be sea. Is the sky blue, so is the sea; 
is it smoky pearl, the sea is dim, and hides its face 
beneath a hazy cloud. <A cloudy day, with the sun 
shining on the water from behind the clouds, turning 
the sea to burnished and glistening silver, is as puz- 
zling as a day with sky of clearest ether, for the sun, 
reflected from the glowing surface of the sea, dissipates 
the line of demarkation in the glare of the reflection. 
There are times when the sea does not rise up to 
meet the sky, but spreads out miles and miles, until I 
almost fancy J can see to Aves Island — that solitary 
island far west in the Caribbean Sea, where a colony 
of birds breed on the sands. The best view is ob- 
tained at sunset; then, whether the bright orb dis- 
appears behind the mountains without a cloud, or 
whether he leaves a threatening array, clad in armor 
of gold and silver, the horizon line is well defined. 
At moonlight also, when mountains and valleys are 
but gradations in depth of shadow, the sea reposes 
peacefully beneath moon and stars, content to rest 
itself as a sea, and claiming no affinity with the vault 
above. 
It seems to me that it changes every time I look 
upon it — pearl-blue, silver shot with gold, hazy 
depths, from which no light is shown, and again a sea 
of deepest ether. It has never been otherwise than 
calm and placid, though the fierce winds that some- 
times sweep down from these mountains and dive into 
the valleys are enough to ruffle the tranquillity of any , 
sea. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that vessels are 
often becalmed under the lee of these Caribbee islands 
for days together, and there is not even a swell to 
