atmospheric blue that
overhung the vast expanse. Many of the passengers, on retiring the
night previous, left word with the steward to be called at an early
hour in anticipation of our sighting the land. The sea had been quite
calm for the last two days, and the nights sublime. A few of us found
it sufficiently restful to remain on deck amid such surroundings,
gazing idly among the clustering stars, so far away, and watching for
the first view of the shore. Thus the night passed, and the big red
globe of the sun came up out of the sea to the eastward, as though it
had been sleeping submerged there since it bade us good-night in the
west at twilight. Adam's Peak, in the shape of a perfect cone, had
been in view from the deck since the break of day, half lost in the
far-away sky. In clear weather, this famous elevation can be seen
sixty miles off the shore of the island. The height of the mountain,
and its looming form, at first produces the effect of a mountain
rising abruptly from out of the perfect level of the waves, but we
were now rapidly approaching the land, and just as the steward's bell
summoned us to breakfast, the lighthouse on the end of the breakwater
of Colombo came dimly into view. The first meal of the day, usually
partaken of at sea with such hearty zest, was neglected by most of the
passengers that morning. A welcome and absorbing sight was before us.
We had last been on land at Penang, which was now left thirteen
hundred miles astern. All were weary of the sea, and in a favorable
mood to fully enjoy the gentle land breeze which came to us laden with
the fragrance of flowers distilled from a wilderness of bloom.
Tropical luxuriance and languor reigned supreme. What a summer world
it was, beautiful beyond expression! The sunshine had not yet asserted
its oppressive power, and the island was seen at its best. An artistic
eye could not but delight in the lavish display of well-defined color
which was presented in the azure sky, the deep green of the
vegetation, the pale blue of the shoal water, and the snow-white
feathery spray combing over the stout granite coping of the
breakwater. As we came nearer to the influence of the shore, the air
was tinctured with rank odors, and the water was heavy with yellow
seaweed, while the hoarse murmurs of the contentious waves sounded
their mournful anthem. No matter how calm the outer sea may be, the
large green rollers of the ocean break with great force when they mee