| | 1 | Author: | Cooper
James Fenimore
1789-1851 | Requires cookie* | | | Title: | Mercedes of Castile, Or, the Voyage to Cathay  | | | | Published: | 1997 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | University of Virginia Library, Early American Fiction, 1789-1875 | UVA-LIB-EarlyAmFict1789-1875 | | | | Description: | The slumbers of Columbus were of short duration.
While his sleep lasted it was profound, like that of a man
who has so much control over his will as to have reduced
the animal functions to its domination, for he awoke regularly
at short intervals, in order that his watchful eye might
take a survey of the state of the weather, and of the condition
of his vessels. On this occasion, the admiral was on
deck again, a little after one, where he found all things
seemingly in that quiet and inspiring calm that ordinarily
marks, in fine weather, a middle watch at sea. The men
on deck mostly slumbered, the drowsy pilot, and the steersman,
with a look-out or two, alone remaining erect and
awake. The wind had freshened, and the caravel was
ploughing her way ahead, with an untiring industry, leaving
Ferro and its dangers, at each instant, more and more
remote. The only noises that were audible, were the gentle
sighing of the wind among the cordage, the wash of the
water, and the occasional creaking of a yard, as the breeze
forced it, with a firmer pressure, to distend its tackle and to
strain its fittings. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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