OVER THE WATER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 15, 12 October 1907, Page 15

OVER THE WATER.

WHIMS AND TOES. Evor.v_ Britisher is born with the vim of the. Vikings in his veins. Ho revels in.tho scudding sea, and is never so happy as when, with wind-swept hair and eyes aflame, ho is riding defiantly on its"foam-clad crest. At least, that is what the Story Books say. And. it is a vory pretty, brightly embroidered bit of romantic lingerie, which looks qui to swoot when hung out on tho lino for an admiring world to gaze uppii.': But it is a vory limp, draggled-tailed piece of frippery when put to tho; practical test in private--it won't, wash well, and its roseato hue fades away into a bilious green. To . sink metaphor, the avorago Britisher'is not a good sailor. Ho loathes tho thought of a lifo oil tho ocean wave, and, to bo terse if slangy, he can't sail worth a 1 dried pea-nut. When lie goes down to tho sea in a ship, ho "goes' down also in fear and pallid trembling. It's not that hp is afraid.of "going down" literally; vory soon, probably, ho is praying to heavon that ho may go down, down to tho blackest bottom of tho doad depths. It is all .a question of Mary, Little Mary. INo visions • of dancing ' mermaids, "under the glaucous caverns of old Ocean; within dim bowers of green and purple moss," trip merrily beforo his jaundiced eye. If ho has visions at all, they. are,.of a weird, green-slime tint: "Oh Lord," methought what pain it was to"drown, What dreadful noise "of 1 water in mine ears What, sights of ugly death within mino ears, Methought' I saw a thousand fearful . wracks,'A. thousand men.,that fishes gnawed upon." "" , But usually ho has no visions; he just has I sea-sickness, and that is enough to kpop him busy. Phases of the Ferry. 'All this;-it may.be mentioned, is not by way of purple preface to a stirring story of tho'Spahish Main,- or tlio Bay of Biscay, 01l l ' It is introductory to nothinp; .more ambitious than a 1 few "fugitive"') articulations" , concerning phases of the ferry service.. Truly, a meek and text on which to hang a dissertation, but not to bo despised wholly.- Olio can seo a good dqal of Lifo's comedy between Wellington and Lyttelton—and frequently got a'more thiin sufficient t-asto of its Ups-and-Dowus,The revolutions of Time's wheel . have wrought many changes during tho last'fe'iv, years, in tho seafaring no less than in- other spheres, It-is-hardly necessary to mako one's will before setting out for tho South these'days, and it , is reasonably safo to order breakfast in Christchurch for the morning; after supper in Wellington. The institution of a regular daily ferry scrvice, has added greatly to the conveniences of local civilisation. But the casual. traveller, doesn't realise the improvement fully; lie is infected ; with' the' national' 'microbe of • Takc-it-for-Granted. And ho looks out of blind eyp£. He',Would rub them in indignant astonishment; however, ■ were lie suddenly transported to: the bad old days of only t\, littlo while ago—when the traveller had to wait for time and tide to favour the movements of ocean leviathans of the ■ Stormbird and Cygnet typo. Their outgoings and ■ incomwere marked by what tho cricket reporter calls the "glorious uncertainty," and,, like twins, woro not expected "until they happened. But tho man who delivershimself and grip , aboard, -t-hp Mararoa or. ..the., Rotoma- ; liana at S p.m. expects, as-a; matter- of. course, to be landed at Lyttelton by breakfast-time' tho following, morning. And he takes, it as a porsonal affront if delayed an hour by incivil elements, upbraids th 6 steward and threatens to write: to tlio.paper. No thought ever enters his head, for tlio toilers .who-slaved while lie slept in his comfortable bunk—the slowly-grilled,' half-naked firemen in the steaming Inferno bolow,'tlio, wide-eyed man-at-tlie-whbel, the sleeplPss keeper away on the ; lonely lighthouse!. ' . Unreasonable and selfish, he has the palliating grace of boing_ a humorous janimal- j -only the humour is usually unconscious. Observe him on the wharf, for instance. He always has a following of farewellers; and as ho struts around ; the gangway', flaunting a cigariette and •an air •of importance, one would think lie had :signed on with Nansen, for a voyage to the Polo. And the .impression.. is;strengthened if petticoats are included amongst his .bodyguard/."Be sure t and. write, won't you?" comes with a flourish of dainty

cambric, .and 'Man, noblo animal, swings on board with a "Good-byo'.' and-a dauntless bearing worthy of avolunteer officer on the brink of a sham light. Less than two hours later he is a limp,. shapeless heap huddled in his blink, wishing-he was nice'and comfortably dead. A demoniacal southerly buster is howling in fiendish glee.. Furtive Fancies. But there are kind, genial nights ■sometimes. Soft, and restful, with a •myriad gleaming stars flashing' in tho tawny hair of , velvet Night like gems i ion a.woman that, is loved. Thero beauty, too, in tho crooning deep, as it sings its languorous lullaby. And thero is' a" brooding mystery in its pulsing bosom. Visions of Poe's City in the Sea'riso in'the" starlight. "No rays from the holy heaven came .down. On the long night-time of that town; :But light from out the lurid sea Streams, up the turrets silently, Gleams up the pinnacles far and free.' Up domes—up spires—up kingly halls, TJp shadowy, long-forgotten bowers, ;Up- fanes, 1 up Babylon-like walls; Up sculptured ivy and 6tone flowers." ■ And'memories, come crowding up at the soiind of a girl's voice and a ripplo of music. . Memories of an emerald coast in, Ireland, washed by tho wide Atlantic—a boat on a sheltered, sleeping cove, With the moonlight gloating o'or;,a white, coastguard station folded beneath the kindly arms ! of tho mothering cliffs, and the murmur ' of music over,the waters, and a pair of dancing, Irish eyes.; It 'is good to glide again through, the paths of the primrose past, to look once more into—— , "Tea or coffee,, sir.?.": lieigho! You really had cajoled the coquetto Sleep after all, despite the obscene' snores of the fat, pork-chop kind ' of person ; in the lower, berth.. And of course the steward was in duty bound to arouse you. from heaven-sent slumber to, mo : lest, you with tea that you havo no taste or inclination for. Your internal economy is not yet stablo or normal. And it is the last barbarous blow of the bludgeon when the pork-chop person has fat steak and onions for breakfast in the oabin.