26 NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BELL ROCK. 



the gale is at its height, the seas are so broken and tossed 

 about that their assaults are but feeble in comparison with 

 those of the long curly-headed combers of the after-swell. 

 The bell-shaped formation of the base of the tower is admirably 

 adapted for withstanding the assaults of the sea, and is built 

 solid to a height of thirty feet, above which the seas never 

 strike, though I have seen the spray carried right over our 

 balcony, a hundred feet from the rock. That the building 

 remains to all appearance as intact as when completed, almost 

 a century ago, speaks volumes for the skill and ingenuity 

 displayed in its erection. In weather such as I have de- 

 scribed we are as completely cut off from outside assistance 

 as though we were at the North Pole ; indeed, it is doubtful 

 if there is another situation save similar ones, of course 

 where men could live so comfortable and unconcerned and yet 

 remain for the time being so completely "ungetatable." 



