74 HUNTING THE SEA OTTER, 



now about six o'clock, and, as we were fully twenty miles 

 from the schooner, masts were shipped, and we were soon 

 scudding back under a couple of reefs before the freshen- 

 ing breeze. 



Shortly after getting under way Snow shot a small 

 sea-lion about seven feet long which rose before him, 

 the speed of the boat fortunately carrying him alongside 

 before the animal sank. Old Junky, who was in the 

 skipper's boat, licked his lips on seeing the capture, and 

 explained that, next to cormorant, fried seal was the most 

 dainty of dishes. It is certain that the two or three 

 succeeding days gave us ample opportunity of judging the 

 truth of old Junky's observation ; and if the power and 

 penetrative effects of the aroma when cooking was any 

 criterion of its culinary excellence, fried seal must be a 

 right royal dish for those who like it. At all events, it 

 had the good effect of protecting the whole seal tribe more 

 effectually than the most rigidly observed close time could 

 have done. The boats with their three inches or so of keel 

 sailed splendidly ; and, well-trimmed aft, did not take so- 

 much water aboard as when first tried at Otter Island. The 

 navigation, however, was far from pleasant. In the dense 

 fog we soon lost sight of each other, and, though the 

 compass gave generally the direction, our dependence was 

 principally on the ear to judge the distance from the shore. 

 The constant roar of the giant rollers on our side, and the 

 huge green billows, whose crests became gradually thinner 

 and more over-arching in more shallow water, were our 

 chief, but precarious guides. It was, in fact, ticklish work. 

 The principal difficulty was in the dense fog and the 

 rapidly falling night to round the reef or point of the bay 

 without running so far as to miss the schooner. The turn 

 was successfully accomplished by observing the diminished 

 roar of the breakers. By edging in till the sail jibed we 

 knew that at length we had fairly entered the bay. Right 

 glad we were when the dark hull of the schooner loomed 

 through the fog; and, within ten minutes of each other, the 



