{"product_id":"2940013762435","title":"The Land of the Hibiscus Blossom","description":"A dark night, as nights are in the tropics before the moon rises, in\u003cbr\u003espite of those dense clusters of stars which stain, like milk-\u003cbr\u003esplashes, the intense blue-black of that vault above, or the more\u003cbr\u003eisolated worlds which hang, as if they were electric globes let down\u003cbr\u003eby invisible wires, from that vast ceiling, whose extremity the eye\u003cbr\u003ecannot reach!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVery bright those irregularly hung lamps; very close-set, and\u003cbr\u003esparkling, those clusters of gems beyond, very filmy the milk-stains\u003cbr\u003eupon that blue--black roof; but the space is too mighty to be\u003cbr\u003eilluminated even by those myriad lights, their effulgence is sucked up\u003cbr\u003eby the miles of atmosphere, and so on the shores, and in the jungle,\u003cbr\u003edarkness grapples with form and wins the battle; the eye looking up\u003cbr\u003ebecomes dazed with that studded diamond vault and blinded to all\u003cbr\u003ebeneath.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is an island within that great barrier reef, which extends from\u003cbr\u003eabove Keppel Bay to Cape York, and along the Torres Straits to the\u003cbr\u003ePapuan Gulf, making eternal summer and calm seas--one of those islands\u003cbr\u003eraised by the insect creators of continents, who are for ever working,\u003cbr\u003eregardless of time; one of the many formed, or in process of\u003cbr\u003eformation, which greet the anxious glance of the mariner every few\u003cbr\u003emiles of his dangerous navigation through those uncertain waters upon\u003cbr\u003ewhich the sun warmly smiles, and shows in the varied shades of\u003cbr\u003edelicious green, the spots to be avoided; and, in the threads of\u003cbr\u003eamethyst, the narrow passages to trust for safety. There are no charts\u003cbr\u003eto guide the mariner as yet, only the sharp eyes and the steady head;\u003cbr\u003efor woe to the unlucky master who pins his faith to a chart, when his\u003cbr\u003evessel sails within these reefs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis island has been long established as a place of call for vessels\u003cbr\u003egoing pearl-fishing, bêche-de-mer, or copra collecting, and is\u003cbr\u003einhabited by a tribe of blacks who give hospitality and work to the\u003cbr\u003etraders who have settled amongst them, and who feed them and teach\u003cbr\u003ethem the refinements of civilization, in return for hospitality and\u003cbr\u003eassistance in their business.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe island is well protected from rough seas by the great coral wall\u003cbr\u003ewhich lies about two miles to westward, and is guarded from the near\u003cbr\u003eapproach of uninvited visitors by hummocks and sharp-edged fringes\u003cbr\u003ewhich are covered at low-tide and surround the smooth sand-shore,\u003cbr\u003elayer within layer, with fathomless depths of ocean between, until the\u003cbr\u003einnermost fringe is passed. Then a long spread of shallow water has to\u003cbr\u003ebe waded over, before dry land is reached, so that the trader, as he\u003cbr\u003esits in his bungalow with his friendly servant-hosts behind him, need\u003cbr\u003eonly wait and finish his pipe, if the visitor chances to be one of\u003cbr\u003ethose interfering personages, until the unwary vessel safely runs and\u003cbr\u003esticks against the protecting reef-walls, when he sallies forth to\u003cbr\u003erescue the wrecked crew and claim the wreckage according to the very\u003cbr\u003ejust and proper law of flotsam.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn this dark night there were several small stranger vessels lying\u003cbr\u003eabout alongside Carolina Joe's own craft. (Carolina Joe was the title\u003cbr\u003ethis protector of these friendly natives bore amongst his friends and\u003cbr\u003eadmirers.) As these vessels were all safely at anchor-age, we must\u003cbr\u003econclude that they had been here before, and did not come for hostile\u003cbr\u003epurpose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeat little craft, rocking under the starlight, and breaking the\u003cbr\u003ereflection of the sparkles below with their hulls and hull-shadows,\u003cbr\u003ebut with nothing definite as regards outline or proportion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn shore--along the dark strips of sand discernible only because of\u003cbr\u003ethe more intense shadow of the palm and croton groves behind and the\u003cbr\u003ejet-like reflecting blackness of the water lapping softly against dead\u003cbr\u003eshells and broken fragments of coral--a heavy breath breaking upon the\u003cbr\u003esilence along with a faint cocoa-nut odour, apprises one of a native\u003cbr\u003egliding past. The sand is smooth, and hard, and pleasant to the bare\u003cbr\u003efeet where it is not covered with those spider-spiked shells; and from\u003cbr\u003ethe shallow parts you step upon a smooth warm plain, for the night is\u003cbr\u003estill too young for the heavy dews to cool the ground; thence into the\u003cbr\u003ecopse, guided by the faint red glow from the drying-house. This gleam\u003cbr\u003ecomes through the crevices of the corrugated iron sides of the shed,\u003cbr\u003eor further on from the hut, where the king and his family wait awake\u003cbr\u003efor the orders of their friend and master, the trader, and where they\u003cbr\u003esilently squat and smoke. The red fire from their pipes, and the\u003cbr\u003esombre glow from their neglected log alone break upon the blackness of\u003cbr\u003ethe night.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145829662960,"sku":"2940013762435","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013762435_p0.jpg?v=1763589939","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013762435","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}