A GRUESOME ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2493, 25 December 1901, Page 75

A GRUESOME ISLAND.

By a. Banker. On the outskirts of that group of lovely seagirt ocean gems, the Solomon Archipe'ago, is a. tmy little ialet, a mere sand dun-- uused up on the summit of a sunken coral reef. The neighbouring islands are veritable natural garden S ; gTOves of laagnificeiit forest trees, many of them rare and beautiful, abound in all directions, from their boughs orchids and bul'ianf flowering creepers depending righi down to the ground, a very cataract of dazzling bloom, all aglow in mauve and gold, vermilion and azure, deep violofc and oiange, the lustrous colouring all enhancsd by tho darker leafage of the noble monarchs of tho wood which lit rear i^ ir lofty crowns in the background. Flitting from flower to flower are greit handsome butterflies, whose glittering spang-led v/jngs vie with the brightest of all that floral galaxj in richness and wealth of colouring. Along the coast-b»rder graceful palms and eyestds, -with long drooping fronds, add still more to the startling beauty of this lovely. Paradis-: of earth. But there is none cf this surpassing attractneness upon that little barren islet. There Nature has lavished none of her charms. Jsot ? cocoanut palm adorns ihe strand, nor scarce a, flower Moonis on the forsaken spot. Instead! of being a Paradise it is more like a tcritstrial inferno, a repulsive charnel house. For it 13 btit ihc home of hordes of uucouth and ioathsome cannbals. Not human, but f-rea-ii ghoulish crawling monsters — unsightly animate like crabs, re\olting and offensive. Ivoa io him whem dire Fate has cast upon this weird and savage islet. For in a few ir nutes he is sunoiuided by a horde ot the hideous monstrosities, all intent upon devouring him. From aU sides the bestial things are speeding towards tire ptror miserable, and as they raicrrcie - him, fighting which shajll have the iir-st Juite, the fate of the wretched victim is sealed yu less he have sufficient s-trength, regardless of his streainmg wounds, to grasp the creatures by • tiu> horny limb, and with main force to dash' them against each, other, until he is surrounded' by a ghastly pile of lis disabled foes. For notv the cannibal horde begin to devour their damaged- congeners and- satiata themselves • upon each other; sc that when dusk begins to fill, gorged and s-uifeited with their gruesome repast, they s?'ovwy crawl back to their dem amidat the locks. And too, m the Great Hereafter, there is s Paradise, where all is- beauty and all is gioi> arid surpassing loveliness, such as the lainrt of nian is altogether unable to conceive,' where we shall enjoy the exalted and delightful conipauionahip of angels and of those whom we love here below who lfave -also chosen the good part, and where doubtless the special guardian angel who has ministered to us and has been, at our side during our e»rtb.-iuc wiU guide and' convoy us to all the glones of thai; supernal realm. And there is also another dread realm, whose subjects are ever toimented with biting, grinding Temorae at the thought of what they have lost for the sako of a little fancied, pleasure. But the gates ot that Paradise of Joy will be opoxiea to aa those whose misdeeds, committed and>^ inherited, have been blotted out of ths ReGord by having been laid at the foot of tha cross. And th«y shall enter those gates, and bs escorted by those bright angels to the presence of Him thiough whose sufferings they have been pardoned, and whom they nave loved and served.

„-'*_ A period of five seconds between a Sash of lightning and thunder means that the flash is a mile distant from the observer. Thunder has never been heard o^er 14- miles from the flash, though artillery has been heard at 120 miles.