I call him Agag, because he walks so delicately, whilst
others accost him as Beau, not only on account of his elegant manners,
but as being the name of his former home.
The moon was more brilliant this evening than we have yet seen her
during our voyage, and we could enjoy sitting on deck reading, and
even doing some coarse needlework, without any other light. One
splendid meteor flashed across the sky. It was of a light orange
colour, with a fiery tail about two degrees in extent, and described
in its course an arc of about sixty degrees, from S.S.E. to N.N.W.,
before it disappeared into space, far above the horizon. If the night
had been darker, the spectacle would have been finer; but even as it
was, the moon seemed quite paled for a few minutes afterwards. We have
seen many meteors, falling-stars, and shooting-stars since we left
Valparaiso, but none so fine as the one this evening.
_Friday, December 1st_.--The sun rose grandly, but the heavy black and
red clouds, looking like flames and smoke from a furnace, gave promise
of more rain. The heat was greater to-day than any we have yet felt;
and it is now nearly mid-winter at home.
[Illustration: Maitea.]
At 5 a.m. we made the island of Maitea, and expected to reach it in
about an hour and a half; but the wind fell light, and it was a
quarter to ten before we got into the gig and set out for the shore.
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