As the great mass of that solitary mountain faded away in the
gathering shades of evening, it was impossible to help
remembering the sufferings of that afflicted family, confined to
those trembling, sulphurous, ash-bestrewn rocks, amid gloom by
day, and unnatural glare by night, for all that weary while. And
while I admit that there is to some people a charm in being alone
with nature, it is altogether another thing when your solitude
becomes compulsory, your paradise a prison from which you cannot
break away. There are many such nooks scattered about the ocean,
where men have hidden themselves away from the busy world, and
been forgotten by it; but few of them, I fancy, offer such
potentialities of terror as Sunday Island.
We had hardly lost sight of the land, when Polly's capture gave
birth to a kid. This event was the most interesting thing that
had happened on board for a great while, and the funny little
visitor would have run great risk of being completely spoiled had
he lived. But, to our universal sorrow, the mother's milk failed
--from want of green food, I suppose--and we were obliged to kill
the poor little chap to save him from being starved to death. He
made a savoury mess for some whose appetite for flesh-meat was
stronger than any sentimental considerations.
Pages:
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430