The waters he had so
successfully navigated before were none of them strange waters. He
had been over them with chart, compass, and pilot, many times before
he adventured for himself. But now, with a richly freighted argosy,
he was on an unknown sea. Pleasantly the summer breeze had wafted
him onward for a season. Spice-islands were passed, and golden
shores revealed themselves invitingly in the distance. The haven was
almost gained, when along the far horizon dusky vapours gathered and
hid the pleasant land. Darker they grew, and higher they arose,
until at length the whole sky was draped, and neither sun nor stars
looked down from its leaden depths. Yet with a desperate courage he
kept steadily onward, for the record of observations since the
voyage began was too imperfect to serve as a guide to return. Behind
was certain destruction; while beyond the dark obscurity, the golden
land of promise smiled ever in the glittering sunshine.
CHAPTER XXIX.
MR. MARKLAND'S determination to visit the scene of the Company's
operations was no suddenly-formed impulse; and the manifest desire
that he should not do so, exhibited by Mr.
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