26 LLANDDWYN 



now parents of numerous children, had been born 

 there, scarcely leave the spot except to make a 

 journey on donkey- back to Newborough for the 

 purchase of living necessaries, and, as they said, quit 

 the place only to return to it at the earliest oppor- 

 tunity. The man of "light and leading" there was 

 the senior pilot, who had in his time sailed the 

 Pacific, and with him I was able to crony over 

 common experiences in that region, a further bond 

 of interest being his ability to count in Spanish up 

 to a hundred, for he had tallied cargo in his day; 

 but for the sake of the shipowners it is to be hoped 

 that he had not then his present habit of passing 

 from four to six by the omission of five. I had 

 hoped to gather from the inhabitants further informa- 

 tion concerning the history of Llanddwyn and its 

 doings, but upon such matters they were quite 

 uninformed, and uninterested in them. 



In the early evening a strange creature appeared 

 coasting the outer rocks, a bird, as it seemed, 

 boldly marked with black and white, progressing on 

 the water by using its wings with a violent paddling 

 action. It thus proceeded in frantic haste, but 

 apparently without settled course, tacking hither 

 and thither as it went. 



" 'Looks like Penguins," said he of the Pacific, and 

 the remark was apt, though it involved a confusion 

 of species (Penguins and Auks) once endorsed by 

 wiser men than he. 



Losing sight of the bird among the rocks, I feared 

 that it had passed on, leaving yet another of those 

 unexplained incidents that serve to tease the mind 

 so long and to so little purpose. But an hour later 



