The priests were divided among the three vessels, and among them therewas that occasional jarring from which even holy men are not quite free.The different bishops had their partisans, but none dared openly face theimperial Oppas. His supposed favorite Luis was less formidable; he waswatched and spied upon, while his devotion to the dignified Juanita wasapparent to all. Yet he was always ready to leave her side when Oppascalled, and then they discussed together the future prospects of theparty: when they should see land, whether it would really be Antillia,whether they should have a good landfall, whether the island would befertile, whether there would be native inhabitants, and if so, whetherthey should be baptized and sent to Spain as slaves, or whether theyshould be retained on the island. It was decided, on the whole, that thislast should be done; and what with the prospect of winning souls, and thecertainty of having obedient subjects, the prospect seemed inviting.One morning, at sunrise, there lay before them a tropic island, soft andgraceful, with green shrubs and cocoanut trees, and rising in the distanceto mountains whose scooped tops and dark, furrowed sides spoke of extinctvolcanoes--yet not so extinct but that a faint wreath of vapor stillmounted from the utmost peak of the highest among them.
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