62 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



covered by one of the boatmen ; the man, how- 

 ever, refused to give it up, except for more 

 money than it was worth, but the captain of the 

 port gave him a sound flogging instead, and 

 returned the anchor. 



On May the 12th we sailed for Supe, where 

 we arrived the same day; to all appearance both 

 this port and Huacho are perfectly safe, and in 

 fine weather they are so, but the anchorages are 

 open, the ground foul, and rollers set in without 

 the slightest warning or apparent cause; the 

 wind has nothing whatever to do with it, but 

 we noticed that the rollers were more likely to 

 appear at full and change of the moon. 



At such times it is better for ships to avoid 

 these ports, or, if they be in them, to have steam 

 handy, and put to sea at the first warning. On 

 these occasions a very heavy sea rolls in, and 

 the mail steamers remain outside, communication 

 being kept up by surf boats or bolsas, which 

 cannot well be capsized ; even then accidents 

 sometimes occur. At Supe the shooting is 

 excellent ; there is a large marsh quite close to 



