A Trip to the Farallones. 



for'tably brisk inside the bay, left us 

 almost entirely after we were well off 

 the shore, and we were soon rolling 

 aimlessly on the broad ocean swells, 

 with only now and then a puff of air to 

 make the sails flap. Thus we spent 

 J the rest of the day, the great glassy un- 

 dulating surface of the sea rocking us 

 about upon the very threshold of our 

 journey, with the bleak coast-line vis- 

 ible far behind us — bold, bare and black 

 in hue, save for some yellow patches of 

 dead grass — and the Farallones lost in the 

 mist at sea. The sun went down be- 

 hind them and out of the west came the 

 cold, pervasive fog, folding us in its 

 mantle of utter darkness. Ships were 

 near us, becalmed in like manner. At 

 intervals their fog-horns blew, and our 

 captain responded upon a dismal tin 

 horn. One ship drew so near that we 

 could hear the cries of the men as they 

 tugged at the ropes, the voice of the 

 mate calling orders, and the noise of 

 the flapping sails. 



70 



ii 



