once perceive that where the sun only sets for a few minutes
there can be no diminution of the light worth speaking of--nothing
approaching even to twilight. The night before the arrival of the yacht
at this place the sun set a little after midnight, and in twenty minutes
afterwards it rose again to pursue its brilliant course through the
northern sky.

It is scarcely possible for a Christian to look on such a scene without
recalling those striking passages in God's Word, which, in describing
heaven, tell us that "there shall be no night there," and speaks of a
"sea of glass like unto crystal," before the throne of God. Well may
the heart of man in such a scene exclaim with the Psalmist, "O Lord, how
manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is
full of Thy riches."

The islands in this particular place were positively uncountable. They
lay scattered over the calm sea in hundreds. Some were no bigger than a
boat--others were towering jagged mountains of more than four thousand
feet high. Most of them were barren, and over the smaller islets, as
well as round the cliffs of the larger ones, myriads of gulls and other
sea-birds flew with clamorous cries. But for this, the scene would have
been one of deep solitude as well as intense calmness. The sea-birds,
however, filled the air with life, ay, and with melody, for the
plaintive cry of wild-fowl when mellowed by distance is inexpressibly
sweet and agreeable.

One thing that puzzled our voyagers very much was the deceptive
appearance of land, so that they found it extremely difficult to judge
correctly of distance. On one occasion, when sailing towards one of the
large islands, Fred went up to Bob Bowie, who was leaning over the side
watching the ripples caused by the _Snowflake_, and meditating, as he
himself said, "on things in gin'ral, and nothin' in particular." It may
be remarked in passing that this was not an uncommon state of mind with
Bob Bowie.

"Well, Bob," said Temple, "we're going along nicely with this breeze. I
expect we shall pass that island before many hours go by."

"How far d'ye think it's off, sir?" inquired the steward.

"About three miles," said Fred.

"Three miles, sir, w'y, it's not more than one mile--if it's that."

"What say you, Captain?" asked Fred.

"Ye better try," suggested McNab, with a quiet grin.

"So I will, ho! stand by to heave the log there. Now, Captain, steer
straight as the crow f