SEA-LION ROOKERIES 1 83 



a Gothic arch and is so situated that its entrance is in 

 smooth water when the wind is in the west, as the prevail- 

 ing wind is all summer. The day I rowed into the outer 

 cave the entrance was perfectly smooth, but every few 

 minutes a swell came in which did not break. 



The arch is forty or fifty feet in height and leads into a 

 great room. From this we rowed into a second, and here 

 the opening into the real cave under the mountain was 

 visible. It was large enough to admit a rowboat by push- 

 ing with hands against the side walls. As we floated into 

 the clear water in which myriad colors appeared to play, 

 I heard a distant roar and knew that we were in a den 

 of the sea lions. At that moment a wave rolled in, com- 

 pletely filling the opening and passing on. It was evi- 

 dent that to be caught in the opening was to court disaster, 

 so waiting until the next wave came we pushed the boat 

 through the narrow tunnel immediately after it, and 

 entered the largest room in total darkness, the opening 

 appearing like a star. How high this chamber was, or 

 how deep, we could not determine, our flarpbeaux not show- 

 ing the ceiling. When the next wave came in, its noise 

 aroused a thousand echoes which seemed to swing back 

 and forth from the unseen wall, creating a pandemonium 

 of sounds. 



Exactly how large this cave is, was difficult to determine, 

 but that it had radiations and lateral caves running off in 

 every direction was very evident, as the sea lions leaped 

 from the sides into the black water with loud roars, and 

 their barking could be heard far away, reverberating in the 

 unknown caves seemingly in the heart of the mountain 

 itself. It was easy to realize how the report gained ere- 



