swaying motion learned from the gait of their own ships, and there is a tone in their voices like the tone of sea-winds roaring through the rigging.
They have passed over all seas, and heard a hundred tongues spoken.
And coming into a city; leaving the rocking deck for the motionless earth, they still wear a quiet dreamy look, as of men accustomed to the sight of Nature in her most infinite aspect, and not liable therefore to be impressed greatly by the sight of the handiwork of Man.
But at times human frailty asserts itself; — the stern discipline of the sea has made the sailors long for some wild frolic on land; — strong drink and women hold out siren-temptations.
What wonder is it? Was not even Ulysses, that wisest of sailors, once obliged to bind himself to the mast lest the song of an enchantress might lure him to destruction?
