I was so happy up aloft that I did not care to descend;
and it was almost as interesting to observe what a strange and
disproportioned appearance everything and everybody on board the yacht
presented from my novel position, as it was to examine the island we
were passing. The two younger children and the dogs took the greatest
interest in my aerial expedition, and never ceased calling to me and
barking, until I was once more let down safely into their midst. As
soon as we had seen all we could of the island, fires were banked, and
we proceeded under sail alone throughout the evening and night.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
_And all throughout the air there reigned the sense_
_Of waking dream with luscious thoughts o'erladen,_
_Of joy too conscious made and too intense_
_By the swift advent of excessive Aiden,_
_Bewilderment of beauty's affluence._
_Tuesday, November 28th_.--We passed Anaa, or Chain Island, in the
morning watch, before daybreak. I came on deck to try and get a
glimpse of it, and was rewarded by a glorious sunrise. We had a nice
eight-knot breeze and a strong current in our favour, and just before
breakfast Tom descried from the masthead Amanu, or Moeller Island,
which we had hardly expected to make before ten or eleven o'clock.
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