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Show ... '•· ,.. . = 40 ST. CHRISTOPHER'S. no progress, and one feels oneself to be imprisoned on the waters, beyoud the reach of all human help. On the present occasion we consoled ourselves by endeavoring to describe our trial of paticnce--"a calm at sea." In vain the mast is reared on high, In vain the sails are spread, Our bark refuses now to fly, Or even creep ahead. From side to side she still can roll, But nought docs it avail her ; Lost is her rudder's firm control, Useless her gallant sailor. Patience, grown sullen, drops her wing, And senseless contemplation, Of every brighter, better thing, Seems to usurp the station. Dut let me for the mind propose A worthier employment, That as each tardy minute flows, May minister enjoyment. Draw from the circumstance and scene A lesson worth the learning, For so yc best may prove, I ween, Your gift of true discerning. The ship of science, sailM of art, And rudder of man's reason, Play but a miserable part, Without heaven's breeze in season. Vain are the puny powers of man, And vain his restless actionNought but the good old gospel plan Can yield us satisfaction. llut grace resisted, all is death, E'en where the gospel's given ; Only the Spirit's vital breath Can waft the soul to heaven. This is a scene, and these are verses, which might be better fitted for a page in Pilgrim's Progressnevertheless the sentiments here expressed are true. As we passed along on our Yoyage, our bait will ST. CHRISTOJ>HE!t'S. 41 taken by a noble dolphin-one of the handsomest creatures I have seen-bright azure, with dark spots above, and white below. We caught a good 1•iew of him as sailor Sam, our intelligent negro, was drawing him out of the water; when be gave himself a cunning twist, and escaped. At another time, our fisherman pulled up a baracoota, a noble fish, of the appearance of a pike, and when grown to its full size, as voracious and dangerous as a shark. Fresh fish for dinner was a luxury which we enjoyed on the occasion; but, for my own part, I paid dearly for our entertainment, which was the probable cause of an indisposition of three weeks' continuance, and not to be controled by medicine. I afterwards found that these creatures arc often poisonous, a circumstance ascribed to their feeding on the copper-banks below the waters, which are said to be frequent among some of these islands. Doring the course of this voyage, we were within sight at once of several islands,-Saba, already described; Anguilla, a small island, deriving its name, I presome, from its snake-like appearance; St. Martin's, St. Bartholomew, St. Eustatia, and, in the distance, St. Christopher's. We were sorry to learn that Anguilla is not in so prosperous a condition as many of the neighboring British islands. How it fares with the laborers, I know not; but as it is a poor island, it is probable that many of them have been induced to quit it, under the temptation of higher wages in other colonies. With regard to the white inhabitants, we were told that they had expended their compensation money somewhat too easily, and were reduced to a |