288 
SOUTH SEA 
the very ground trembling under my feet from the for- 
cible beating of the surf— the wind groaning and howl- 
ing through the forest, and against the rocks, with 
terrible strength ; now and then might be heard the 
cracking of some huge tree, which could no longer with- 
stand the ruthless fury of the blast ; and now a stream 
of fire darting its zig-zag course with wonderful velocity 
buries itself in the briny and troubled bosom of the 
ocean, lighting up all nature with its lurid flame, shew- 
ing the agitated waters hissing and foaming in the 
distance, followed by horrid sounds of thunder, terrible 
in the extreme, causing a sickening of the very souk 
I felt desolate, as if the whole 'world had become a 
chaos, except the spot ‘on which 1 stood, —I and my 
companions, like the family of Noah, were the only 
saved ! with what agonized feelings did I think of my 
beloved one, and my dear kindred could she but have 
cast a look across the world of waters, and have seen 
my melancholy standing-place— could I but have seen 
her beloved form, what joy would have filled my heart ! 
—but we were divided by the diameter of this immense 
globe— we were antipodes ; but although the cold ocean, 
the snow-clad mountain, and a thousand dangers sepa- 
rated us, still we were as 4 4 one soul in a divided body; ” 
there was a never-failing powerful attraction between 
us, superior to that power which attracts the mariner’s 
compass ; for although it exerts its subtile influence at 
an immeasurable distance, and with undeviating truth, 
yet when closely approaching the supposed object of its 
distant choice, vacillates, acts with uncertainty — its 
