22 HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 



not one of us had ever come across a really well authenti- 

 cated instance of a swimmer having been seized, although 

 collectively we had been pretty nearly all over the world. 

 In fine, sailors' superstition, his own repulsive looks and 

 dogged perseverance in following ships, though not more so 

 than that of gulls or " chickens," have given to the shark 

 that proverbial bad name which it is sought to perpetuate by 

 maligning him on all available opportunities. In all 

 probability, as its habits become better known and studied, 

 the true character of the shark will be found to assimilate 

 with that of scavenger vulture rather than the swooping 

 eagle. 



After an unmerciful amount of tumbling and tossing, by 

 some unaccountable means, possibly a local current, we got 

 outside the influence of the tide-rip and into smoother 

 water, drifting along, fortunately on our course, a few miles 

 distant from the shore. 



The coast, which at Cape Yesan, terminates in a mass of 

 mountains all more or less volcanic, turns abruptly, runs in 

 a northerly direction for about fifty miles, then, breaking 

 away to the north-east, forms Volcano Bay, and running 

 back in an almost straight line to the south-east, is brought 

 up in a huge mountain bold outline, 3500 feet high, at Cape 

 Yerimo. The cliffs rising from the water which washed the 

 base of the chain, presented an even face, unbroken by 

 either dip or gulley ; there was no sign of any stream 

 discharging into the bay, although there are said to be 

 several farther on. The country was well wooded, but 

 there was not a trace of a human dwelling or even a boat. 

 Nothing broke the bright surface of the water save the fin 

 of an occasional shark, a melancholy guillemot, or a few 

 gulls with their jaunty, high-pitched stems, looking like 

 miniature caravels on the lake-like sea. 



As we drew abreast of Cape Yerimo, the scene became 

 more animated, for we found the fur seal in large numbers. 

 The extensive groups of half-submerged rocks, many of 

 large size, which form a reef stretching more than a mile 



