Read "On a Southern Harbour" by Hilaire Belloc online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The ship had sailed northward in an even manner and under a sky that / was full of stars, when the dawn broke and the full day quickly / broadened over the Mediterranean. With the advent of the light the / salt of the sea seemed stronger, and there certainly arose a new / freshness in the following air; but as yet no land appeared. Until / at last, seated as I was alone in the fore part of the vessel, I / clearly saw a small unchanging shape far off before me, peaked upon / the horizon and grey like a cloud. This I watched, wondering what / its name might be, who lived upon it, or what its fame was; for it / was certainly land.
I watched in this manner for some hours -- perhaps for two -- when the / island, now grown higher, was so near that I could see trees upon / it; but they were set sparsely, as trees are on a dry land, and most / of them seemed to be thorn trees.