SUNRISES AND SUNSETS.
1. By the medium of mere words, it is impossible to convey an adequate idea of the grandeur—the surprising loveliness we may say—of the enchanting and ravishing beauty of the sunsets in New Zealand.
(Good lodgings at the neighbouring hotel for 20s. a night. Try dry curaçoa.)
2. When a stranger stands for the first time before a New Zealand sunset, and views Nature in her wildest moods for colouring, he is struck dumb with admiration.
(The application of a pin will often relieve the trouble.)
3. The waning light, the deepening shadows, the varieties of crimson, opal, and sapphire, surpass the wildest flights of Eastern imagination.
(The rising moon, held up by Nature’s fingers, in the departing glories of a setting sun, holds him spell-bound with enchantment.)
4. Glittering like serpents with golden scales, the scarlet canopy above, the waving flames of clouds, mottled like drifting fleecy wings of angels, are natural creations never to be obliterated from the feeblest memory.
5. Oh! molten rubies. Oh! golden veils and red flamingoes; what are ye to the sunsets of New Zealand?
(I have not referred to sunrises, being always asleep at that time of night.)
6. Tableau: What revelations of beauty!