white rollers would still
be breaking on the coral reefs. The palms would still be waving on the
sand ridge which forms the harbour, and the amber mist would be floating
round the peaks of the Blue Mountains. There were English soldiers and
sailors and English people. The English language was spoken there by
blacks as well as whites. The religion was English. Our country went for
something, and there would be some persons, at least, to whom the old
land was more than a stepmother, and who were not sighing in their
hearts for annexation to the American Union. The governor, Sir Henry
Norman, of Indian fame, I was sorry to learn, was still absent; he had
gone home on some legal business. Sir Henry had an Imperial reputation.
He had been spoken of to me in Barbadoes as able, if he were allowed a
chance, to act as Viceroy of all the islands, and to set them on their
feet again. I could well believe that a man of less than Sir Henry's
reputed power could do it--for in the thing itself there was no great
difficulty--if only we at home were once disenchanted; though all the
ability in the world would be thrown away as long as the enchantment
continued. I did see Sir Henry, as it turned out, but only for a few
hours.

Our voyage was without remarkable incident; as voyages are apt to be in
these days of powerful steamboats. One morning there was a tropical rain
storm which was worth seeing. We had a strong awning over the
quarter-deck, so I could stand and watch it. An ink-black cloud came
suddenly up from the north which seemed to hang into the sea, the
surface of the water below being violently agitated. According to
popular belief, the cloud on these occasions is drawing up water which
it afterwards discharges. Were this so the water discharged would be
salt, which it never is. The cause of the agitation is a cyclonic
rotation of air or local whirlwind. The most noticeable feature was the
blackness of the cloud itself. It became so dark that it would have been
difficult to read any ordinary print. The rain, when it burst, fell not
in drops but in torrents. The deck was flooded, and the scuttle-holes
ran like jets from a pump. The awning was ceasing to be a shelter, for
the water was driven bodily through it; but the downpour passed off as
suddenly as it had risen. There was no lightning and no wind. The sea
under our side was glassy smooth, and was dashed into millions of holes
by the plunging of the rain pellets.

The capt