ballast--the sound of labour makes me more comfortably lazy. They are not
in a hurry, nor "chivy" over their work either; the tides rise and fall
slowly, and they work in correspondence. No infernal fidget and fuss.
Wonder how long it would take me to pitch a pebble so as to lodge on the
top of that large brown pebble there? I try, once now and then.

Far out over the sea there is a peculiar bank of clouds. I was always
fond of watching clouds; these do not move much. In my pocket-book I see
I have several notes about these peculiar sea-clouds. They form a band
not far above the horizon, not very thick but elongated laterally. The
upper edge is curled or wavy, not so heavily as what is called
mountainous, not in the least threatening; this edge is white. The body
of the vapour is a little darker, either because thicker, or because the
light is reflected at a different angle. But it is the lower edge which
is singular: in direct contrast with the curled or wavy edge above, the
under edge is perfectly straight and parallel to the line of the horizon.
It looks as if the level of the sea made this under line. This bank moves
very slowly--scarcely perceptibly--but in course of hours rises, and as
it rises spreads, when the extremities break off in detached pieces, and
these gradually vanish. Sometimes when travelling I have pointed out the
direction of the sea, feeling sure it was there, and not far off, though
invisible, on account of the appearance of the clouds, whose under edge
was cut across so straight. When this peculiar bank appears at Brighton
it is an almost certain sign of continued fine weather, and I have
noticed the same thing elsewhere; once particularly it remained fine
after this appearance despite every threat the sky could offer of a
storm. All the threats came to nothing for three weeks, not even thunder
and lightning could break it up,--"deceitful flashes," as the Arabs say;
for, like the sons of the desert, just then the farmers longed for rain
on their parched fields. To me, while on the beach among the boats, the