rs
remain veiled in the twilight which clouds the verge of authentic
history, the track of their keels may yet be followed through the
conflicting currents of that hitherto unknown ocean which they opened
to a future world. The forests and fishing grounds of every coast and
island still support the manifold divisions of the nomadic race which
forms the substratum of island life, and the star of hope which led
them onward, shone for many subsequent adventurers across those
Southern seas which aroused the energies and ambitions of later ages.
The symbolical stories of the world's infancy join the actual
experience of struggling humanity to the dreamland from whence it
emerged, as some syren song lured it into unknown regions. The
old-world legends of mankind "launching out into the deep, and letting
down the nets for a draught," repeat themselves from age to age, for
the human heart has ever sacrificed comfort and safety in order to set
sail upon some trackless ocean, on the chance of reaping that harvest
of life's sea for which man yearns with insatiable desire. The
wanderings of Odysseus, in the youth of the world, illustrate the
eternal pursuit of a visionary ideal, in those adventures which breathe
the undying romance of the sea. The resemblance between the traditions
of savage and civilised nations appears too strong to be fortuitous,
and indicates the underlying unity of feeling and purpose implanted in
the human race. Modern environment renders it impossible to calculate
the tremendous force of the mysterious impulse which swayed the onward
march of primeval tribes; even the later obstacles, overcome by bold
spirits who followed in their wake, can never be adequately realised
amid the artificial conditions of our present life. The charmed circle
of the "Equator's emerald zone," encloses a region of marvel and
mystery, where Imagination, the fairy with the magic mirror, helps to
interpret and reveal the secrets of Beauty and Truth, which transfigure
material form and colour with the halo of idealism. The tale of the
mysterious ages when "the threads of families" were first "woven into
the ropes of nations," still sways mind and fancy, but the romance of
the world continues, though the progress of Humanity varies the
pictured page. In the warm heart of the tropical Archipelago, Nature,
triumphing in eternal youth, seems to mock the transient phases of
aspiration and achievement, which vanish by turn into the misty pas