THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP.

Otago Witness, Volume 23, Issue 2684, 23 August 1905, Page 81

THE CRADLE OF THE DEEP.

(By a. Banker.)

To be "rocked in the cradle of the deep," though to some the very acme of the most harrowing and abject misery, yet to others is the realisation of extreme pleasure and enjoyment : the rhythmical heaving gf the waves an<J the ever-varying, tmdulatory motion of the vessel evoking the most pleasurable sensations, and, aided by the free, fresh ozone-laden air, restoring to the tired brainworker health, and strength, and vigour. -

But at times, when Nature is pouring forth the vials of her wrath, when the ocean is rent and torn by a, wild hurricane, and the blasts of a furious tornado are lashing the foaming billows into a very orgasm of fury, and the good ship trembling like an aspen from stem to stern, now climbing up the steep of those mighty wind-swept rollers, now diving headlong downwards as though no power on earth could stay her plunge right down into the very chambers of the deep; then even the hardiest can scarce describe this as an experience of •unmitigated pleasure and gratification. As for sleep, it is entirely out of the question, for it is necessary to hold on with both hands, or the voyager would be violently thrown out of his berth and. deposited on the floor, which may or may not be flooded with water. . The noise is now indescribable; th© hurritane madly roaring through the rigging; great vol.um.es of sea .water flooding the deck and dashing against the bulwarks with th© noise of thunder; everything movable in the cabin and saloons careering hither and thither; crockery breaking, the heavy, unwieldy piano in the music saloon, torn from its moorings, hurled to and' fro midst broken furniture, threatening to do still more serious damage to (the ship itself, until at the peril of their limbs some sailors lash it securely to an iron stanchion; while from time to time the boats, tern from the davits, crash against the ship's isides, and then are wrenched off and thrown to the winds. And to add to the terror some Indies in an adjoining cabin are crying out in

mortal dread, thinking that the trembling ship is doomed, and- that soon she Will plunge headlong downwards, and all on board will be sepulchred in a watery tomb, far down in the dark recesses of the deep. And then at last the day breaks, the storm is assuaged, the fury of the waters subsides, and the brilliant sun disperses the gloom and the horrors of that right of terror and of alarm. And as with that rising sun those wild winds are hushed, and all those forbodmg fears vanish away, so the Sun of Eighteousness, the Redeemer of the world, dispels the grinding doubts and fears of all who turn to Him, and. who plead before the Throne of the Most High the expiation He has made for th«m. Then must all their misgivings disappear, and they realise that, without any doubt, if they live the life of the righteous, through His merits and mediation their names will be written in the Book of Life.