Then, with all
her sails, light and heavy, and studding-sails, on each side, alow and
aloft, she is the most glorious moving object in the world. Such a
sight, very few, even some who have been at sea a great deal, have
ever beheld; for from the deck of your own vessel you cannot see
her, as you would a separate object.
One night, while we were in these tropics, I went out to the end
of the flying-jib-boom, upon some duty, and, having finished it,
turned round, and lay over the boom for a long time, admiring the
beauty of the sight before me. Being so far out from the deck, I could
look at the ship, as at a separate vessel;- and there rose up from
the water, supported only by the small black hull, a pyramid of
canvas, spreading out far beyond the hull, and towering up almost,
as it seemed in the indistinct night air, to the clouds. The sea was
as still as an inland lake; the light trade-wind was gently and
steadily breathing from astern; the dark blue sky was studded with the
tropical stars; there was no sound but the rippling of the water under
the stem; and the sails were spread out, wide and high;- the two
lower studding-sails stretching, on each side, far beyond the deck;
the topmast studding-sails, like wings to the topsails; the
top-gallant studding-sails spreading fearlessly out above them;
still higher, the two royal studding-sails, looking like two kites
flying from the same string; and, highest of all, the little
skysail, the apex of the pyramid, seeming actually to touch the stars,
and to be out of reach of human hand.
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