{"product_id":"2940013762817","title":"Last Leaves from Dunk Island","description":"Early in the year 1918 two great storms visited the coast of North\u003cbr\u003eQueensland. One centred off the port of Mackay, four hundred miles to the\u003cbr\u003esouth of Dunk Island, on 21st January, and the other about twenty-five\u003cbr\u003emiles to the north, on 10th March.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForty-eight hours prior to the Mackay storm premonitory effects were\u003cbr\u003eobserved here, succeeding a memorable tidal jumble. During a breathless\u003cbr\u003ecalm a mysterious northerly swell set in. To ears accustomed to the\u003cbr\u003esilence and the musical whisperings of a sheltered bay, the roar and\u003cbr\u003eburst of the breakers of a wind-forgotten sea suggested a confused mental\u003cbr\u003epicture--a blending of black and grey without form.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHeaving, as with deep-drawn breaths, out from the beach the sea seemed to\u003cbr\u003ebe both restless and angry, as glistening rollers heaved themselves on to\u003cbr\u003ethe strand, to be shattered into spray. They rifled the Barrier Reef,\u003cbr\u003ethrew on the sand lumps of coral to which brown seaweed hung, like the\u003cbr\u003escalps of mermaids, and swept them to and fro with savage persistency.\u003cbr\u003eThey brought driftwood from afar, and claimed all sorts of sun-dried\u003cbr\u003erelics from previous depositary moods.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter a time the sea became silent again, with a sparkling, wavering\u003cbr\u003eripple, while the noise of its assault on the mainland beach had the tone\u003cbr\u003eof distant, unceasing thunder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTen days before the second storm, while the sky was cloudless and the air\u003cbr\u003eserene, a change in the quality of the heat was felt. During the first\u003cbr\u003ethree months of the year--the period of heavy rainfall--the temperature is\u003cbr\u003egenerally humid., Suddenly it became dry and burning, with a tingling\u003cbr\u003eintensity, as rare as uncomfortable. For the time the moist vapours of a\u003cbr\u003emild steam-bath were dispersed by scorching breath as from a furnace, to\u003cbr\u003ethe discomfort of animal life and the injury of vegetation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEarly on the morning of Sunday, 10th March, the sky became overcast. A\u003cbr\u003efresh southerly breeze had sprung up during the night. A short, confused\u003cbr\u003esea tumbled in the channel, and the usually placid bay mimicked its\u003cbr\u003esport. With fearsome steadiness of purpose, the wind developed as it\u003cbr\u003eveered to the east. At 5 p.m. it was travelling at furious speed,\u003cbr\u003etwisting branches from trees and thickening the now gloomy skies with\u003cbr\u003eleaves. Consistently with the strength of the wind the barometer fell\u003cbr\u003euntil between 9 and 10 p.m., when, with a conglomeration of terrifying\u003cbr\u003esounds varying from falsetto shrieks to thunderous roars, the centre of\u003cbr\u003ethe cyclone seemed to bore down on the very vitals of the island.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe devastating assault lasted about half an hour; it was followed by a\u003cbr\u003elull, succeeded by another attack of violence from the north and\u003cbr\u003enorth-west; then, as orderly as the storm had developed so it subsided.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith the barometer at 29.90 at 9 a.m., who would have prognosticated a\u003cbr\u003edangerous cyclone within twelve hours? Mark the regularity of the\u003cbr\u003ederisive finger that, having failed to herald the storm, acted as a\u003cbr\u003eservile registrar of its various phases at the moment of occurrence:--","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152662053104,"sku":"2940013762817","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013762817_p0.jpg?v=1763589929","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013762817","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}