| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: the Song of Solomon, ending with "Sweet is thy voice, and thy
countenance is comely." And when it came to that, the
probationer's eyes (if the truth must be told) went searching
through that sea of faces for one that should be familiar to his
heart, and to which he might make a personal application of the
Scripture passage--even the face of Sheila.
There are rivers in the Lewis, at least two of them, and on one of
these we had the offer of a rod for a day's fishing. Accordingly
we cast lots, and the lot fell upon the youngest, and I went forth
with a tall, red-legged gillie, to try for my first salmon. The
Whitewater came singing down out of the moorland into a rocky
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: land is evident; and it certainly has saved many a one from
being wrecked. I know few things more surprising than to
see this plant growing and flourishing amidst those great
breakers of the western ocean, which no mass of rock, let it
be ever so hard, can long resist. The stem is round, slimy,
and smooth, and seldom has a diameter of so much as an
inch. A few taken together are sufficiently strong to support
the weight of the large loose stones, to which in the inland
channels they grow attached; and yet some of these stones
were so heavy that when drawn to the surface, they could
scarcely be lifted into a boat by one person. Captain Cook,
 The Voyage of the Beagle |