the
crew, were collected on deck, listening anxiously to what was going
forward. The captain stamped about the deck once or twice, as if
undecided what to do.

"You may be a very good navigator, Mr Henley, and you may have taken
very good care of the ship while I have been ill," he exclaimed at last;
"but to tell me that the land we see there is the island of Teneriffe,
is perfectly ridiculous. I'd just as soon believe that that is
Teneriffe as I would what you and the parsons would tell us, that
there's a heaven and all that."

Just as he was speaking, the dark clouds which had hitherto, as if they
had been thick folds of drapery, completely shut out the sky and all
surrounding objects, were suddenly widely rent asunder, and high above
our heads appeared, like a mass of burnished gold lit up by the rays of
the fast rising sun, the lofty peak of Teneriffe towering in majesty
towards the blue sky, 12,000 feet above the ocean.

"As surely as there exists before us that grand mountain, so surely is
there a heaven," said the deep-toned voice of Mr Vernon. "And, my
friends, ere it be too late, seek the only path by which that glorious
heaven can be gained, and eternal misery and self-reproach avoided."

Some listened and crowded round the clergyman, but the captain turned
aside, observing with a half sneer, "That's Teneriffe, there's no doubt
about that; and so I suppose we shall have to bring up at Santa Cruz to
get some fresh vegetables and fish for some of you good people."

He was evidently wishing just then to ingratiate himself with the
passengers, while, from the state of the ship, he knew that he would be
compelled to put into the nearest port to repair damages.

As we sailed along, one headland after another came into view, and then
we began to distinguish the varied and very bright colours of the
land,--reds, browns, and yellows of every degree. While sheltered by
the coast we no longer felt the force of the wind, but glided calmly on
in comparative smooth water. Again, however, the glorious peak, by the
intervening clouds which played wildly around it, was hid from sight,
and only the slopes of the town hills, the green valleys, or mountain
glens, coming down to the very water, could be seen. By degrees,
however, the trees, and even the solitary Euphorbia bushes, could be
distinguished, and then a long, low, white line appeared, which our
telescopes divided into the houses, and churches, and towers of