splendors of the setting sun to retrace her way, she
turned and sped back to the strand, where the stores she had saved from
the wreck were heaped up. When first she had set out upon her exploring
ramble, she had expected every moment to behold human forms--her
fellow-creatures--emerge from the woods; but the more she saw of that
charming spot whereon her destinies had thrown her, the fainter grew the
hope or the fear--we scarcely know which to term the expectation. For no
sign of the presence of man was there; Nature appeared to be the
undisputed empress of that land; and Nisida returned to the shore with
the conviction that she was the sole human inhabitant of this delicious
region.

And now, once more seated upon the strand, while the last beams of the
sun played upon the wide blue waters of the Mediterranean, Nisida
partook of her frugal repast, consisting of the bread supplied by the
wreck and a few fruits which she gathered in the valley. The effects of
the tempest had totally disappeared in respect to the sea, which now lay
stretched in glassy stillness. It seemed as if a holy calm, soft as an
infant's sleep, lay upon the bosom of the Mediterranean, now no longer
terrible with storm, but a mighty emblem of mild majesty and rest!

Nisida thought of the fury which had lately convulsed that sea, now so
placid, and sighed at the conviction which was forced upon her--that no
such calm was for the mortal breast when storms had once been there! For
she pondered on her native land, now, perhaps, far--oh! how far away;
and the images of those whom she loved appeared to rise before
her--Francisco in despair at his sister's unaccountable
disappearance--and Fernand perchance already doomed to die! And tears
flowed down her cheeks, and trickled upon her snowy bosom, gleaming like
dew amongst lilies. Of what avail was the energy of her character in
that land along whose coast stretched the impassable barrier of the sea?
Oh! it was enough to make even the haughty Nisida weep, and to produce a
terrible impression on a mind hitherto acting only in obedience to its
own indomitable will.

Though the sun had set some time, and no moon had yet appeared in the
purple sky, yet was it far from dark. An azure mantle of twilight seemed
to wrap the earth--the sea--the heavens; and so soft, so overpowering
was the influence of the scene and of the night, that slumber gradually
stole upon the lady's eyes. There now, upon the warm sand, sl