| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: "Things began to look bad. We put the long-boat
into the water. The second boat was ready to swing out.
We had also another, a fourteen-foot thing, on davits
aft, where it was quite safe.
"Then behold, the smoke suddenly decreased. We re-
doubled our efforts to flood the bottom of the ship. In
two days there was no smoke at all. Everybody was on
the broad grin. This was on a Friday. On Saturday no
work, but sailing the ship of course was done. The men
washed their clothes and their faces for the first time in
a fortnight, and had a special dinner given them. They
 Youth |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: with us.
In the morning we sent for the horses very early, and
started for another exhilarating gallop. We passed the
Cabeza del Buey, an old name given to the head of a large
marsh, which extends from Bahia Blanca. Here we changed
horses, and passed through some leagues of swamps and
saline marshes. Changing horses for the last time, we again
began wading through the mud. My animal fell and I was
well soused in black mire -- a very disagreeable accident
when one does not possess a change of clothes. Some miles
from the fort we met a man, who told us that a great gun
 The Voyage of the Beagle |