Our little world went on its curved and unswerving path carrying a
discontented and aspiring population. They found comfort of a
gloomy kind in an interminable and conscientious analysis of their
unappreciated worth; and inspired by Donkin's hopeful doctrines they
dreamed enthusiastically of the time when every lonely ship would travel
over a serene sea, manned by a wealthy and well-fed crew of satisfied
skippers.
It looked-as if it would be a long passage. The south-east trades, light
and unsteady, were left behind; and then, on the equator and under a
low grey sky, the ship, in close heat, floated upon a smooth sea that
resembled a sheet of ground glass. Thunder squalls hung on the horizon,
circled round the ship, far off and growling angrily, like a troop of
wild beasts afraid to charge home. The invisible sun, sweeping above the
upright masts, made on the clouds a blurred stain of rayless light, and
a similar patch of faded radiance kept pace with it from east to
west over the unglittering level of the waters. At night, through the
impenetrable darkness of earth and, heaven, broad sheets of flame waved
noiselessly; and for half a second the becalmed craft stood out with its
masts and rigging, with every sail and every rope distinct and black in
the centre of a fiery outburst, like a charred ship enclosed in a globe
of fire.
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