BACK TO SPARTIVENTO Ul 



To-night we grapple for the heavy cable, eight tons 

 to the mile. 1 long to have a tug at him ; he 

 may puzzle me, and though misfortunes or rather 

 difficulties are a bore at the time, life when working 

 with cables is tame without them. 



' 2 P.M. — ^Hurrah, he is hooked, the big fellow, 

 almost at the first cast. He hangs under our bows, 

 looking so huge and imposing that I could find it 

 in my heart to be afraid of him. 



' June 17. 

 'We went to a Httle bay called Chia, where a 

 fresh-water stream falls into the sea, and took in 

 water. This is rather a long operation, so I went 

 a walk up the valley with Mr. Liddell. The coast 

 here consists of rocky mountains 800 to 1000 feet 

 high, covered with shrubs of a brilHant green. On 

 landing our first amusement was watching the 

 hundreds of large fish who lazily swam in shoals 

 about the river ; the big canes on the further side 

 hold numberless tortoises, we are told, but see 

 none, for just now they prefer taking a siesta. A 

 little further on, and what is this with large pink 

 flowers in such abundance ? — the oleander in full 

 flower. At first I fear to pluck them, thinking they 

 must be cultivated and valuable ; but soon the 

 banks show a long line of thick tall shrubs, one 

 mass of glorious pink and green. Set these in a 

 little valley, framed by mountains whose rocks 



