ALICE: EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF A MILLIONAIRE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1833, 5 April 1884, Page 5 (Supplement)

ALICE: EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF A MILLIONAIRE.

By DONALD CAMERON.

INTRODUCTION. Gliding o ti the ocer.n day by «!••,, How screnMy parses time away : lVhil 1 ) its Wftrelrtn wrentli»d vri'h sni'leh, Softly bathe its thousand fairy l^les ; And at night it* plv^phorfs.'sni'e gWrn I',1 ', Lighting np tins uoiiaron* woiM of <heanii. For a week the good yacht; Yarn? h>id been becalmed on tho Pacific Ooe.in, bstvrecn Tahiti and Hawaii. The sea. vroul-1 have resembled «, v?sL sheet of Tariously-tinted glass but for those gentle swell's an i modulations tint are ctern.il 1:1 gre.'.t ocoans. Occasionally a breeze arice and onjfble some di'iancc '0 be done, Int soon die away, and tha ja?!it would resemble a " I':uA' >' -'iip I'jon p. puiiitcd ocr "n " Yet it was not nnp!ea?ant, for those on board -u.'ic ac<i?i.omed to the heat, and there was no monotony, the breeds and the swells carrying rhrm contimully part fairy islands, fringed wuh coral of every hue, and glorifiol with v.i'dant pal-ns and the rich! vegetation of Vac tropics, the voyagers were not tied to tuv' 0, pUlg. Fishing and boating never pallcl, f _>r ooch hour had its marvels of coral and sp 1 jndicTij-colored and f trangclyshaped fish, somo ber.utiful in olor and figure beyond the power of pen, pencil, or 1 brush to convey ; others of form such as is only seen in tha dreams of the doliriotn. The yacht was already a floating museum. Nine months previously the Yarra had left the port of Melooiirne for a cruise round the world. She had been built in Glisgow for her owner, Mr. Herbert Gifford, and was one of the finest ever turned out by the far-famed j firm that had constructed her, spped and , comfort being equally studied. She carried about thirty soul 3, the ov.'ner and las companions included. Bho could steam vhen rcqaired, having a funnel that could b3 unshipped ; bat at present she had to rely upon I her sails, a<? the coal hvl given oufr. Indeed, the owner did not care about steam and ltn unromintic surroundings. The yacht had touched at most ot the places in Kew Zealand worth seeing, Milforo Sound andLitier Taopo and EDtomahrma bSncj "done," and at Buenos Ayrca. The Stoaits of Magellan, with their wondrous scenery of snowclad mountains, glaciers, and sounds, had been navigated, and the trp-vcllers had seen most of what ia worth looking v at in Chili and Peru. Tahiti had been raiio from Callao, and in that lovely region tin? yachtsmen had stayed for a good period, leaving it with regret. They were now on their way to Hawaii, from •whence they intend x\ to follow the track of others and reach Jap*ui, their course after that being undecided. In two year 3 from the date of starting they were to lefcurn to Melbourne. On a blight iridescent morning the owner of the yacht was standing on the deck, looking at the lovely scene, and the play of color. The yacht iay becalmed romo distance from a dark, forbidding ishnd, piecipnous on eveiy side, indeed rising up to ngieat height. The navigators could not find this island in their map 3, though that cli 1 not p\cite their surprise, as they were in the region marked " Supposed Inlands." Tnh island, so unlike all they had heretofore seen in these sunny seas, had appeared to them as the morning dawned. Heibert GifTord, the owner of the Yarra, was gazing upon it with an undefined longing to explore Jt, which seemed impossible. A splendid specimen of manhood this young fellow appeared, as he leaned that morning npon the bulwarks, attired in yachting dress, which showed off to the utmost advantage the physical grace, strength, and symmetry of his form. Ho was surrounded by a number of handsome youths n yachting dress, forming a kind of Grecian picture. Oae characteristic figure alono appeared in the group, a tall, thin, angular youn^ man, with a peculiar face, the expression of which was intensely comic, though not meant to be so. Happy, happy, lyoung men, wealthy, healthy, with nothing to do but enjoy themselves ! "So you sly you -&w strange things last night," enquired Herbert Gifford of the queerlooking youth. "I did," was the reply, "extraordinary lights in the sky and over the sea, just towards morning. It secmod as if we had come into the land 0' Diableke." " Well," said Herbert, "presently wo will launch the boat and ia&pect this dark mysterious island. In the meantime let U 3 surrender ourselvaj to the charm of this glorious morning, this gleam of Heaven on the waters. Lst us have music?" Instantly instrumonts wore produced, and upon the " silenb sea" burst a grand melody, interpreted by manly voices accompanied by violins and wind instruments. Add while the music made the world melodious Herbert Gifford gazed abstractedly over the sea, and dreamed a dream— the dream of the first epiBodo in his Hie.