e crowd of men, huddled together in the shadow of the awnings,
panted with weariness. The water and the air, even the very light above,
had a dull, crushing splendour; and the fadeless glory of those elements
were as a very mockery of the human beings whose physical lives are so
ephemeral.

Once, up in his crow's nest, he was gladdened by the sight of flocks
of tiny birds, of an unknown species, which fell upon the ship like a
whirlwind of coal dust. They allowed themselves to be taken and stroked,
being worn out with fatigue. All the sailors had them as pets upon their
shoulders. But soon the most exhausted among them began to die, and
before long they died by thousands on the rigging, yards, ports, and
sails--poor little things!--under the blasting sun of the Red Sea.
They had come to destruction, off the Great Desert, fleeing before
a sandstorm. And through fear of falling into the blue waters that
stretched on all sides, they had ended their last feeble flight upon
the passing ship. Over yonder, in some distant region of Libya, they had
been fledged in masses. Indeed, there were so many of them, that
their blind and unkind mother, Nature, had driven away before her
this surplus, as unmoved as if they had been superabundant men. On the
scorching funnels and ironwork of the ship they died away; the deck was
strewn with their puny forms, only yesterday so full of life, songs, and
love. Now, poor little black dots, Sylvestre and the others picked them
up, spreading out their delicate blue wings, with a look of pity, and
swept them overboard into the abysmal sea.

Next came hosts of locusts, the spawn of those conjured up by Moses,
and the ship was covered with them. At length, though, it surged on a
lifeless blue sea, where they saw no things around them, except from
time to time the flying fish skimming along the level water.

CHAPTER X--THE ORIENT

Rain in torrents, under a heavy black sky. This was India. Sylvestre had
just set foot upon land, chance selecting him to complete the crew of a
whale boat. He felt the warm shower upon him through the thick foliage,
and looked around, surprised at the novel sight. All was magnificently
green; the leaves of the trees waved like gigantic feathers, and the
people walking beneath them had large velvety eyes, which seemed to
close under the weight of their lashes. The very wind that brought the
rain had the odour of musk and flowers.

At a distance, dusky girls beckone