THE OOLOGIST. 



eggs and had to wade across several 

 mai'shy channels. 



It was just ten o'clock as we stepped 

 into the boat and pushed off the island, 

 and it was coming dark. We found the 

 water very choppy and as our canvas 

 boat was heavily laden with eggs which 

 1 had put in the bow of the boat, instead 

 of raising her bow on the approach of 

 the waves she cut through the waves 

 and the boat immediately began to ship 

 water. My man was at the oars and 

 by the time we had reached tlie channel 

 of water running between the islands 

 we found ourselves in a sad plight. I 

 suggested we had better turn back, but 

 my man replied "if he attempted to 

 turn around we should at once fill with 

 water and sink," so we kept the bow of 

 the boat facing the white caps and by 

 this time the boat was half full of water 

 and it was useless to attempt to bail the 

 water out, however, we ran the gaunt- 

 let and in five minutes we had crossed 

 the worst part of the channel, breathed 

 more freely when we approached the 

 Island whei'e the Pelicans nested. 



On reaching the Island, I suggested 

 that we remain there all night as it was 

 nearly dark and I doubted if we could 

 find the place on the mainland where 

 we had left the horse and buckboard. 

 Besides we had got over two miles of 

 rough water to cross before we reached 

 the point. However we thought if the 

 water became much rougher it might 

 wash over this low Island so we decided 

 to risk it and pull for the mainland. So 

 we took every thing out of the boat, tip- 

 ped her over and emptied out the wa- 

 ter and then packed all the eggs in the 

 stern of the boat and we arranged that 

 if the boat should fill with water and 

 sink, each should seize an oar and swim 

 to shore, but perhaps this would have 

 been no easy matter with our clothes 

 and boots on. However, we pushed off 

 into the rough water, but were pleased 

 to find the bow of the boat rose as she 

 met the waves, for all the eggs were 



now in the rear of the boat, so we did 

 not ship so much water as before in 

 crossing from Reed Island to Peliean 

 Island. In half an hour the mainland 

 appeared and after some difficulty we 

 made out the outline of the buckboard 

 against the sky; we were soon on terra 

 firma with our clothes soaking wet. So 

 I instructed my assistant to hitch up his 

 horse while I packed the canoe and 

 eggs, intending to drive back to the set- 

 tler's cabin to dry our clothes and sleep 

 there for the night. 



As my man had disappeared in the 

 darkness and been gone ten minutes I 

 called out but got no answer. I then 

 attempted to light a fire but the grass 

 was wet, so I climbed on top of the 

 buckboard and struck several matches 

 so my man could see the light and find 

 his way to me for he had got into a 

 patch of tall rushes and could not find 

 his way back in the darkness. I could 

 hear the dry rushes cracking under his 

 feet as he approached nearer, and soon 

 learned that he could not find the hoi'se, 

 so all we could do was to remain there 

 until morning. Unfortunately we could 

 not make a fire as there were no trees 

 around for miles and the grass and 

 rushes were damp. We leaned the boat 

 against the buckboard and spreading 

 our rugs alongside of the boat we laid 

 down to rest, but the mosquitoes soon 

 fyund us out and came about us in 

 myriads and we were glad to hide our 

 heads under the rugs to escape their 

 bites. 



Just as we were do/ing off to sleep it 

 began to rain in torrents and the thun- 

 der and lightning was terrific. We 

 pulled the boat over us and there we 

 were crouched under the boat, feeling 

 very miserable in our damp clothes 

 with the thunder cracking over our 

 heads, but this was not the only trouble 

 for the water began to rise from the 

 lake and threatened to wash over us, 

 but at last the storm passed over, the 



