surfresearch.com.au  talmage  : ocean waves, 1896

Hut there j^oes the whistle of tlir
".\lameda." It has to .sound three
times, and then oiT for Xew Zealar.d.
We wait for the second wdiistle and
then start. Over the rolliu}.; billows
to the ladder of the steamer, and up
to our old ]ilace on the .!;(>od shij), to
which we ai^ain tnrst our live^.
What a mystery it must be to all the
innumerable creatures of the deep.
We di.scuss some fl> ini^; fish, or .see
once in a voya.<;e a spoutiu,y^ whale,
but we never realize that we are be-
in.^- discussed l)y the inhabitants df
an element fdlcd with so much lite
that our captain says when a whale
is w(Minded by its captors, it recpiires
two men to keep off the sharks
while the captive is bein.-^- dniwn in.
What, suppose you, the inhabitants
of Oceana think of this shi]) floatin-
above them, of the bow ])lowin-j;
thronj^h, of the screw .stirriui; t'.;e
wave, of the passenj^ers bendinfi; o\ i r
the railiii'j;? I*. very moment, as \w
pass on bv dav and ni-lit, there arc thousands of ichthyolooical iiupiiries of " What'^
tliat^" What do the sca;^nills flvin<^ luindreds of miles from .shore think of us? What .:o
the sharks think ? What" do the wliales think ? What does the octopus think ? We ,iic
as jrrcat mvsteries to them as they are to us. And now we come back to study that wliuli

, across the Atlantic, and is now .is
 
 
 

ui:kmi;si
 
 
 

has been to me one of the ^rcat
 
 

ly
 
 

fascinatiui; in my
 
 

first voyage over the Pacific, and will, I suppose, be to me as great a
 
 
 

lOI
 
 

VV..11.ICT until ilR. last jmsh of the slfauKT altiT I
ilu' arclntvctmv and adoriiiiitiit of an ocvan
 
 

liavf lutnid .\(\v Vol k harbor. I nivan

, ,,rv,. ,.,„i, ,. ^^'''^'*-'' ^^ ''''^ iiiatii(.iiiatir> o.iild contrive its

iin\i', oi what (.?oinpaNS (.xi'cntL' I '•' Its ..i-.,-,.r,,i,, •. "i"\<. u»

"'>pi<l lip, and inin.Jk'd and tnldid and j.nt
 
 

al US tlnvads woven ],v tl.v linger of (lod, an. ,... „,,, ,„„ „„,„,,„ „

';:!: ::? ±':r ::' ^r^'- '''?-'. ^"^' ^"l- •"? ^^- --.., as it n.akvs ..p its nnnd ,
 
 

I ^.. ...e. .... ot^.r, and-:.:;';;:. ;,:t::;ne ;;;;:: ;;:,H::::::':rr;::;-:;;:::n;;:': '-n
 

tlu' rise, the rnsh the arch, the fall, the voice, the splendor, the convolution the niincle
W.V,., ,l,e ,,ic„„ed wave, iho „.„vc j„s. ,,„„,, „r ,1,. »avc. j„;",lvi,!... " ' '"'"'"'
 
 

>ave IS ever chan<n
 
 

nir
 
 

fl(
 
 

^itcorates it with a flash, or tli
 
 

)rescent, rnhescent, irid
 
 

escent.
 
 

X
 
 

e ni<4lit sinks nito it a silver and
 
 

Tlie complexion of
o\v phosphorescence
 
 

lorage of star, or tl
 
 

le morning
 
 

•^3
 
 
 
 
 

If' ^,Jwr?'L
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

?1?:
 

Talmage, T. De Witt: The Earth Girdled : The World as Seen To-day. W. Briggs, Toronto, 1896.  Internet Archive http://archive.org/details/cihm_92748

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