SecD'ch for a Laiidi)if/-jjkice. 325 



satisfying ourselves as to the immense abundance of fish 

 which frequent the coast of the island in a truly astonishing 

 degree, although the American whaler had prepared us by his 

 remarks. From bow and stern of the boat hooks and lines 

 were hung out, and several of the crew were at once kept busy 

 hauling in the lines, at the end of each of which there usually 

 struggled a fish of some two or three feet long. These were 

 chiefly umber fish, which are also very plentiful about St. Paul, 

 where, from their delicacy, they formed a favourite dish at our 

 otherwise very frugal repasts. 



We had now got so near, that we could distinctly perceive 

 grass and the stems of ferns growing among the clefts of the 

 rocks. How^ever, although there was a dead calm, and the sea 

 outside was as smooth as glass, the long ground^swell of the 

 ocean, with its broad flat billows, caused such a heavy surf on 

 the rock-bound stony beach, that the attempt to pass it was not 

 to be thought of. The further we advanced along the coast in 

 a northernly direction, the more distant we got from the ship, 

 and unluckily in an equal degree our hopes were disappointed of 

 finding a spot at which we could land, and scramble from the 

 strand up the steep bank to the level ground above. The 

 south-easternmost point, which at a distance presented the 

 appearance of a low headland jutting out into the sea, behind 

 which we had hoped to find a good landing-place, now that we 

 had got close to it, proved to be a small detached rock ; while 

 the shore, as far as the eye could reach, rose like a wall to a 

 height of from 150 to 200 feet. There now hove in sight five 



