158 WILD WINGS 



lease land from him and pay a fee for the fishing privileges. 

 He is monarch of all he surveys, yet glad of the rare glimpse 

 of strangers from the great and distant " world," especially 

 of Americans, to whom he would gladly sell his big island, 

 with its fine fishery privileges and supposed mineral deposits, 

 for thirty thousand dollars. In the half hour of our stay he 

 was so overwhelmingly kind that I shall do all I can to help 

 him advertise his wares. 



The sea was fairly quiet upon the nc>rth side, and the 

 "royal " advice was stronglv in faxor of starting at once for 

 Bird Rock, as the weather indications were suggestive of 

 wind and plenty of it before long. So we sailed away, with 

 the dying breeze following gently, directly from astern. In 

 an hour we had made good progress, vet Bird Rock, which 

 we could see, was still but a distant haze, and it was already 

 evening, by the watch. Oars were brought out, and they and 

 our backs bent to the task. At eight, as the sun sunk below 

 the sea to the northwest, the Rock looked near, but it was 

 half-past nine, under the last fading rays of the day and the 

 silvery light of the welcome moon, when the great stately 

 cliffs at last towered above us, and the sea-birds screamed 

 and issued forth to meet us in the clouds of ghostly forms. 



Already had the dynamite bomli crashed in welcome. A 

 form hurried down the ladder, and a lantern waved from the 

 pile of rocks, signalling to us where to make the venture. 

 Calm as was the sea outside, some surf was rolling in upon 

 the ledges. We must run the gauntlet and take our chances ; 

 there could be no backing out now. So on we went to our 

 fate. A sudden concussion almost threw us oflf our feet ; we 

 had struck a submerged rock. Then a following wave picked 

 us up and liurlcd us against the pile. We all leaped out and 

 held the boat against the undertow, and with mightv efforts, 

 helped by succeeding waves, got her up a few feet farther. 



